Hidden Bravery
by TheGameNguyener
Summary: Luigi is not known to be brave. But after one fateful day, he must face his fears and overcome the dangers that threaten his friends and all worlds from destruction. Through his long journey, he'll have to deal with the trust of not just the people he's been with, but himself as well. His main concern? Is he tough enough to step up as a hero? [Complete]
1. Prologue: The Mysterious Figure

_Author's Notes:_ _Hey guys! This is TheGameNguyener (TGN) here! And welcome to my first story on FanFiction! This is a Mario & Sonic crossover, but this story will be found as a 'Regular' story under the Mario category because I've made the man in green, Luigi, take the leading role. Mario, Sonic, Tails, and a lot of your favorite characters will also appear here, but the four main heroes will be shown a lot throughout this adventure compared to everyone else._

 _After reading the prologue, please leave a review down below to let me know what you think of this fanfic! All positive feedback and constructive criticism are allowed since this is my first written work on FFN. Please do not leave flames though. Anyways, I hope you enjoy this short preview of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _! (Rated T for language and violence.)_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _This chapter has been re-edited as of 6/3/18._**

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 _Disclaimer:_ _The story was developed by me, inspired by the fanfictions I read before. But the Mario and Sonic franchises, characters, and other content are respectively owned by Nintendo and Sega._

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 **Prologue:** The Mysterious Figure

 _Location: ?_

The area was constructed of dark purple, glowing material with several piles of crystals emanating an ominous glow. The shards were scattered everywhere in sight. A man ran up to the source of this dark energy and confronted the evil floating villain who was holding a large, magical staff. As he stopped and glared at the dark creature, his three animal friends caught up and stopped next to him.

The villain began to speak as the heroes stood on the ground. "So, you guys have finally arrived. And at the right time, too. I'm just another step closer to destroying all worlds."

"No matter what you do, you'll never get away with this!" shouted the man.

"HAHAHAHA! Big talk from a small, puny human. Do you really think you're strong and brave enough to fight me? You're nothing but a pathetic, little wimp!" the entity retorted back at the man.

"Hey! Don't talk our friend like that!" snarled the anthropomorphic animal standing on the man's left. "He is strong and brave! He has the power to send you to the depths of hell!"

The other friend on the man's right jumped in on the confrontation. "You better give up now, or you'll regret it!"

The last one didn't speak. Instead, he growled furiously.

The dark entity couldn't help but chuckle at the so-called 'heroic' comments he heard.

"You should already know this by now. I am the one who caused the severe damage to your worlds. I am the one who manipulated hundreds of underlings to bow down to my service and fulfill my needs. I am the one who used the energy of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards to create the Oblivion, the dark holes you saw floating in the sky, which will consume everyone and everything. And when it's all over, I'll make sure you guys are the first three to die! And there's _nothing_ you can do."

The man clenched his fists as he charged up his powers. His thick eyebrows were lowered to reveal the anger building up inside him. His face showed a mix of emotions that he usually doesn't express in his previous adventures: determination, confidence, and most of all, bravery. However, he did express fear from his legs shaking. Nonetheless, he wasn't going to back down from here after how much he has been through.

The other heroes were also prepared for the showdown. The hero on the left was busy stretching his legs and cracking his knuckles with an unamused look on his face. The one on the right lowered his eyelids angrily as he clenched his right fist and punched his left hand with his twin appendages from behind starting to spin. The other one, who stood in front of the man, scratched his front and back paws, leaning back as if he was prepared to lunge at the enemy. All three would do anything to help their human friend out despite the difficult task they face upon.

The man spoke up to the monster again. "My friends and I will NOT succumb to you. We traveled through so far to the point where we will not simply back down and surrender. I'm gonna get my revenge for everything you've done to hurt me, my friends, and our worlds. So bring it on, bastard!"

"Hmm, I had never thought you look so brave, or at least act like you are. Nor have I believed you would curse like that," he teased sarcastically.

"I already told you this before in my dream. But if you want to know, I swear because I despise malicious people like you!" the man growled, pointing his finger at the enemy.

The villain continued to mock him. "Not only that, but you must really care about your friends, especially the three idiots standing with you. I thought I told you to come here alone."

"Don't you _DARE_ ridicule them! They've helped me on this adventure, and they aren't scared of you at all! They're my friends, and they wanted to help me! I accepted it, and that's why they're here!"

"Speaking of your friends, would you like to see another 'buddy' of yours? I'm sure you'll recognize this person right off the bat."

"What the hell are you talking about?" the hero questioned, revealing his clenched teeth.

"It's probably best to show you rather than tell you."

The entity then floated over to the left to reveal a strange figure from behind. The figure was a silhouette of a short, plump man who seems to be wearing something on his head. He started to move slowly towards the quartet. As he floated forward, the image of the person became clearer. And like the monster predicted, the hero noticed who it is. His mouth was agape, completely shocked by this discovery.

He wished it was just a dream. A dream like the one he had before. But it wasn't. One of his nightmares came true.

"No… No! It, it _can't_ be!"

"What's wrong? Who is it?" said one of the hero's friends.

It was at the time that the figure showed himself to the group. He displayed metallic equipment attached to his arms and legs, rocket boosters under his shoes, a shell guard protecting his body, and an ominous glow of white and purple emitting from his entire body. But it was his face that gave his identity away, making the other three drop their jaws simultaneously. He showed his two glaring, red eyes which used to be clear pools of blue, a thick, bushy mustache that was under his large nose, and a large, red cap with a familiar insignia on the front that rested on the top of his head.

The hero spoke hesitantly. "Mario..."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

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 _Thanks for reading the prologue of my first fanfiction! Please leave reviews, follow/favorite the story to catch up on new chapters, and I hope you enjoy it!_

 _-TheGameNguyener (TGN)_


	2. Ch 1: Early Celebration

_A/N:_ _Numbers indicated in bold and italics with parentheses are just some extra details I wanted to explain or reference. They will be found at the bottom of the page. They'll also be separate from other chapters of the story. Ex.-_ _ **(1)**_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _This chapter has been re-edited for dialogue reconstruction and grammar mistakes._**

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 _Disclaimer:_ _I do not own any rights or the characters of Mario and Sonic. They belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

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 **Chapter 1:** Early Celebration

 _Location: Mushroom Kingdom_

It was a peaceful morning in the Mushroom Kingdom. Birds were chirping, a small breeze was blowing through the trees, delicious mushrooms and beautiful flowers were growing in the vast fields, and several citizens began to work early maintaining the castle grounds and picking up crops or bouquets. There was a beautiful sunrise that started to peak over the mountainside in the early summer hours.

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

The continuous, annoying sound blared for a good thirty seconds before the mustachioed man sluggishly turned on his side and reached over to his bedside dresser to shut off his alarm clock. Still drowsy, he scratched his head and looked up to see the time. 8:30 a.m. He started to yawn as he lazily got out of his bed and rubbed his eyes to get rid of the rheum that developed in his slumber.

The man was wearing a green tank top and white gym shorts as his night apparel, unlike his usual white and green striped pajamas since it was hot out yesterday, alongside the fact he went running to burn off some calories from the all-you-can-eat pasta special he ate two days ago. However, he did feel relaxed that he slept in, even though he's more of a morning guy.

He walked over to his drawer to grab a fresh set of his normal everyday clothes: a long-sleeved green shirt, two white gloves, a set of white socks, a clean pair of briefs, and dark blue overalls with two yellow buttons. He took a green towel and headed to the bathroom to take a nice, relaxing shower. He set his clothes down on the closed toilet seat and turned the shower handle.

As he waited for the water to warm up, he proceeded to take off his sportswear and throw them in the hamper. When the water got warm, he got in and cleansed his body and brown hair with his green apple scented soap and shampoo, whistling the _Super Mario Bros. _ theme. Once he finished rinsing, he turned the shower off, opened the glass door, and reached for his towel to dry off. He covered his lower half as he stepped out and proceeded to the sink. He combed his hair down to its usual appearance and brushed his teeth.

After feeling refreshed and clean, the man threw the towel in the hamper and began to put on his attire. He started with the briefs, then his green shirt, followed by the blue overalls, his gloves, and lastly his socks. He exited the bathroom and walked over to the bedroom mirror where his brown shoes were. To his right was a rack with a green hat. It featured a white patch with a green 'L' on the front. After putting on his footwear, he grabbed the cap and placed it firmly on his head. He looked at himself, plucking his thick mustache under his nose and smiled proudly.

 _"Ah, I feel like a new Luigi now!"_ he thought excitedly.

It was 8:45 by the time Luigi walked downstairs into the kitchen. As he entered, he noticed his older brother was making pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon. His brother was wearing similar clothing, only with a red shirt, a red cap with an 'M' on it, and blue overalls that aren't as dark as his. He, too, had a bushy mustache under his big nose.

The man in red turned around and stopped what he was doing to greet his brother. "Good morning, Luigi! Happy birthday!" **_(1)_**

"Morning, Mario! Thanks for remembering, bro!" he said as they exchanged a hug with each other. After the embrace, Mario went back to the oven. "So whatcha doing?"

"I'm making a celebratory breakfast for you! I hope you're hungry!"

"I sure am. But after eating, I'm probably gonna have to start running again. You know how bad I felt after eating all that pasta Wednesday night."

"Don't kid yourself, Luigi! It's your birthday! Eat as much as you want. We usually burn off those calories running in our adventures. And who knows, maybe we'll have another one pretty soon!"

"Ugh, don't get me started on that."

As much as Luigi likes to run, jump, and perform parkour, he doesn't like it when he's running into trouble. Truth be told, Luigi was neither ambitious nor courageous as his older brother when it comes to dangerous explorations. Most of the time, Luigi would sit back and take care of the house while Mario would go out to the kingdom or, in most cases, travel and trek through multiple worlds to rescue Princess Peach, the ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom, from the evil clutches of King Bowser, the leader of his group known as the Koopa Clan.

If Luigi was dragged into an adventure, he accompanied Mario and had to face any dangers that they come across. Known to be timid and scared of almost anything, especially ghosts, he usually feared for the worst. He continued to have bad memories of all the ghosts taunting him in his mansion adventure when he had to save his older bro from King Boo.

Aside from being terrified, he gets jealous of the fact that he's not as strong or brave as Mario (or when he doesn't get invited on vacations or adventures, when he feels like it). But during the times when he exhibited bravery, he gets left behind in the shadows as he received little to no attention while the main hero receives unlimited praise from the Mushroom community. Almost everyone, including himself, had considered him as a clumsy sidekick, or an unlikely hero throughout his life. His feelings can get hurt from this sometimes, but he doesn't take in the belittlement too seriously as he's generally a kind-hearted person. On occasion, he does earn appreciation from both his brother and the princess for his attempts.

Mario finished preparing Luigi's birthday breakfast and he placed the plate in front of his brother who was sitting at the dining table.

"Thanks, Mario," he said as he began to take a bite of scrambled eggs. "Mmm… So fluffy and scrumptious!"

"Glad to see you love it," chuckled Mario. "We got a big day ahead of us."

"Really? Why is that, bro?" asked Luigi as he continued eating.

"That's because we're expecting some visitors arriving in the kingdom. Sonic and his friends from Mobius are planning to visit to celebrate your special day!"

"Really?! That's awesome!" beamed Luigi. Ever since Mario and Sonic joined the Summer Olympics in Beijing, they have converted from franchise rivals into great pals. They each had strong relationships with each other's friends, as well. "It's been since the Rio Olympics since we've seen the guys."

"Yeah, those times in Rio were pretty good, and competitive, too. Remember how Sonic would always tear up the track with his speed?" Luigi nodded as he poured some syrup onto his pancakes. "Now that I think about it, if you decide to run, maybe you can ask him to join. I'm sure he won't mind exercising," Mario joked as he gave his brother on a nudge to the shoulder.

"As long as he doesn't take it as a competition, I'm fine with that. As much as I admire his speed, he'd finish a 5K run in just a matter of seconds and I would've run just ten feet!" exclaimed Luigi as Mario laughed at his joke. "By the way, aren't you gonna eat breakfast?"

The red plumber shook his head. "I already had some cereal. I decided to wake up early to cook this for you."

"Well I appreciate it, bro." thanked Luigi as he ate a strip of bacon.

"No problem, Luigi! After you're done, we-" Mario got interrupted by the telephone, ringing a familiar tone from _Super Mario World_ from the living room. **_(2)_** "Oh, I bet I know who that could be! I'll go answer it."

As Mario rushed out of the kitchen, Luigi got up from the table to get some orange juice from the fridge.

He got to the lounge and managed to pick up the phone in time. "Hello?"

On the other side of the line was none other than the Blue Blur himself. "Hey, Mario! How's it going, buddy?" he greeted with a big grin on his muzzle.

"Oh, hello Sonic!" Mario replied. "I'm doing well, thanks. Good to hear from you again!"

"Right back at ya! Listen, Tails is calling the rest of the gang that it's Luigi's birthday today. Once he's done, we're gonna meet up with everyone and head to your world afterwards."

"That's perfect! We'll meet you outside of Peach's Castle."

"Sounds good. We should probably arrive in about fifteen minutes."

"With your speed, you'd be here in a matter of seconds!" Sonic couldn't help but chuckle at his friend's joke. "Anyways, we should be heading out soon as well. Say 'hi' to Tails and the others for me."

"I will, Mario. And tell Luigi that I wish him a happy birthday!"

"Okey-dokey, Sonic! I'll see you soon!"

"Later, Mario!" Both hung up the phone afterwards. Mario went back to the kitchen to see Luigi who just finished his breakfast.

"So who was that, Mario?" Luigi asked as he started washing his plate.

"That was Sonic. He said that he and Tails will gather up their friends and meet up with us outside of the castle. He also wished you a happy birthday."

Luigi expressed a big smile on his face. "How nice of him! Thanks again for the meal. I'm almost done cleaning, and then we can go."

After placing the dishes in the drying rack, Luigi followed Mario out the door and locked it up with the keys. The two brothers walked over and entered the green pipe on their front lawn as they made their way to Toad Town.

It was only the beginning to Luigi's big day. However, anything could happen during an eventful time like this.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

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 _Just starting off short and simple with the Mario Bros. and an appearance with the Blue Blur. The next chapter will focus on just the Sonic characters as we find out what they're doing in Mobius._

 _Thanks for reading the first chapter of Hidden Bravery! Please follow and favorite the story to catch up on the plot! And please write a review so I can get some feedback!_

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 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I decided that Luigi's birthday would take place in the summer, specifically July 14_ _th_ _, since that was the release date of the original_ _Mario Bros._ _video game._

 ** _(2)_** _: The ringtone is from_ _Super Mario World_ _, based off the theme when the brothers destroy the fortresses after beating the Koopalings. It's also one of the ringtones heard from Mario's Mailbox SP from_ _Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door_ _, one of my favorite games of all time._


	3. Ch 2: The Infiltration

_Disclaimer:_ _I don't own rights or the characters to Mario and Sonic as they belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

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 **Chapter 2:** The Infiltration

 _Location: Mystic Ruins_

Sonic walked into the living room of their house after finishing his call with Mario. He approached a shelf where the yellow Chaos Emerald laid. He took the gem and stuffed it in his quills. He then turned around and saw Tails sitting with a frustrated look on his face. He was using his digital communicator with his right elbow leaning on the arm of the sofa as his head rested on the palm of his hand.

"Come on, Shadow. It's for Luigi's birthday. He would want all of us to come," begged the two-tailed fox, talking to the black hedgehog on the other side. "Wouldn't you want people to be with you for your birthday?"

The black hedgehog was unmoved. "I rather be alone, minding my own business. Besides, birthday parties are completely meaningless. Why do you want me to go anyway?"

Tails answered bitterly. "Because being alone just shows how unsocial and miserable you are, just like you're probably feeling right now?" Sonic put his hand to his mouth as he snickered at Tail's remark. " _Sigh_ , I'm not forcing you to go. I'm suggesting you to socialize with others. Don't you want see the brothers, the princess, and the rest of our friends?"

The conversation continued longer than expected which did nothing but irritate Tails due to Shadow's backlash. Eventually, Tails hung the call up and cursed under his breath. He then looked to his left to see the blue hedgehog standing there.

"So…" he began. "Is Shadow feeling it right now?"

"He's Shadow, not Shulk. **_(1)_** He couldn't care less about Luigi or the others in the kingdom. Why does he have to be like that?" Tails groaned.

"That's just how he is. Arrogant, unmotivated, hard-to-get. He only does something if it's to his benefit," Sonic replied as he shook his head.

"Luckily, he was the last one to talk to." The fox got up from the couch and stretched his arms. "At least everyone else agreed to join us. I told them to congregate near the mushroom-decorated warp pipe outside the train station."

"It's pretty neat for the Mario Bros. to find a way for our worlds to connect," admired Sonic. "It's just that we rarely see them since we have to defend ours from Eggman and his damn robots, just like how they protect the kingdom from Bowser. Anyways, I told them we would be there in 15. Looks like we're gonna be late though."

Tails looked up at the wall clock. 9:05 a.m. "We better get to Station Square now!"

"You're right, buddy. Well, what are we waiting for?" Sonic smirked as he raced out of the house leaving a trail of blue behind.

"Ugh, when are you gonna stop leaving me behind, Sonic?" muttered the kit as he locked the house and spun his tails to catch up to his fast friend.

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 _Location: Station Square_

Outside the station was said pipe Tails mentioned earlier that would lead the gang back to the Mushroom Kingdom. It was blue with a pattern of red Super Mushrooms and green 1-Up Mushrooms encircling the top base of the cylinder. There was a door entrance on top of the pipe. However, it remained locked because Tails predicted that leaving the pipe wide open could let Eggman allow to infiltrate the other world and terrorize the kingdom. To unlock the entrance, the power of a Chaos Emerald was needed to enter the transportation device. Unfortunately, the emerald was with the dynamic duo and none of Sonic's friends didn't have one.

Most of the team had arrived at the pipe, which included Knuckles the Echidna, Amy the Hedgehog, Cream the Rabbit, Cheese the Chao, Rouge the Bat, Silver the Hedgehog, Blaze the Cat, and the members of the Chaotix: Vector the Crocodile, Espio the Chameleon, and Charmy the Bee. The only ones who weren't there were Sonic, Tails, and Shadow. However, the gang was unaware that the ebony hedgehog refused to join the festivities.

"Where the hell are those guys?" grumbled the red echidna folding his arms. "Knowing Sonic, he and Tails should be here in no time. Why are they so late?!"

"Yeah! I don't want to wait forever! I want to get there and eat some birthday cake!" Charmy enthusiastically flew in circles.

"Be patient, Knuckles," the pink hedgehog assured. "My Sonic always gets here on time and I know he'll be here soon." Knuckles just rolled his eyes over her comment.

"I'm sure Amy's right," Cream replied. "They wouldn't want to miss a party for Mr. Luigi."

Her Chao, Cheese, agreed. "Chao, Chao!"

"I'm also positive they'll be here in no time," Silver added on. "Besides, why else would Tails have called all of us on this special day for our friend?"

"All we have to do is be patient. That includes you, Knuckles," said Blaze.

Knuckles was about to throw a fist in front of their faces until Vector spoke up. "Hey, I think I see a blue streak from the streets!" No doubt about it, Sonic arrived at the scene. He stopped and gave a thumbs-up to the party.

"What's up, guys? Long time, no see!" winked Sonic.

"SONIC!" Amy yelled as she jumped into the blue hedgehog, squeezing the life out of him as she grabbed his neck. "I knew you would be here!"

"A-Amy! Please, I… can't b-breathe!" gasped Sonic trying to softly push her away. Amy eventually let Sonic free as she tilted her head and looked at him dreamily. Rouge and Knuckles just shook their heads from the embarrassment they witnessed.

Just then, Tails flew in and landed near his friends. He was gasping for air. "Sonic, why can't… you be… more patient… and wait for me?"

"That doesn't matter right now," said Espio. "We were supposed to be at Mario's world now, but we were still waiting for you guys."

"Sorry about that," Sonic replied. "But Tails had some unfinished business to take care of."

"What do you mean by 'unfinished business'?" Rouge asked with a confused look.

"Shadow was being a wuss during our phone call," Tails answered. "I kept asking him to come to the kingdom and be with everyone, but he kept declining probably because he wanted to be alone. Long story short, he gave a ten-minute rant."

"Really, he's not gonna bother wishing the guy a happy birthday?" Tails shook his head to answer the bat's question.

"Sometimes I don't understand that hedgehog. I guess he's not coming, huh?" Knuckles questioned.

"I doubt it. It's aggravating just to talk to him for what could have been a one-minute conversation," Tails mumbled.

"Oh, forget him, Tails." Sonic assured, placing a hand on his friend's shoulder. "The important thing is that everyone else is here waiting to celebrate Luigi's birthday."

"Why wait when we can go now?" Amy asked cheerfully. "Do you have the Chaos Emerald?"

Sonic nodded and took out the shiny, yellow gem from his quills. He and Tails walked over to the mushroom pipe with a large slot where the emerald is needed to open it. There was also an attached keypad; if Eggman were to have a Chaos Emerald, he would have made it to Mario's world with no problem. That's why Tails decided to build a keypad with a secret passcode so the doctor wouldn't be able to gain access. After he typed in the password, the blue hedgehog placed the jewel inside the hole. After that, the pipe door flew open for the gang to enter.

"Great! Now let's get to the Mushroom Kingdom and meet up with Mario and the others. They said they'll be at the castle."

Sonic took the Chaos Emerald out from the slot and entered the pipe. He led the way as the others followed him inside the pipe one after another. Vector was the last to enter and closed the pipe up with the hatch. After locking it up, he caught up with the others as they were getting close to their friends' world.

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 _Location: Eggman's base_

Dr. Robotnik, a.k.a Eggman and the main antagonist in Sonic's world, was in his main control room, bound to build his utopia of the Eggman Empire. Albeit a robotic genius with an IQ of 300, his plans have usually been thwarted by his arch-nemesis: Sonic the Hedgehog. Through countless times, the evil scientist tried to use the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds for total conquest. And no matter what the result was, Sonic was always there to prevent him from destroying the city, achieving domination, and most importantly, hurting his friends.

Right now, the doctor has two emeralds in his possession: the red and white ones. Unbeknownst to Sonic and the gang, he had sent out some of his most trustful mechs to search for the other four. With the help of his hidden security cameras, he noticed the gang entering the mushroom pipe in Station Square with the yellow jewel in tow.

"Hehehe, with Sonic and the others gone, I can sit back and relax as my henchmen find the emeralds for me. And when the timing's right, I'll swipe that emerald away from that blue rat and I'll be unstoppable! HOHOHOHO!"

Eggman sustained his evil amusement up until he started choking from his laugh. He calmed himself down with a glass of water. He was determined to acquire the other emeralds that are scattered throughout Mobius. He also planned on stealing Sonic's once he comes back to his original world. Although he could use the Chaos Emeralds to unlock the pipe to Mario's dimension, he decided to build his empire in Mobius first before trying to control the other lands.

But what he didn't realize was that one of his cameras have caught a mysterious figure found outside his base. The figure knocked on the door frantically which caught Eggman's attention.

"Dah, who could it be to disturb my work?" Eggman grumbled.

But when he looked at the security camera, there wasn't anyone in sight. Eggman went back to his main computer and heard the loud banging again. Still, there was no one outside the entry way.

"Okay, who's playing games this time? I've already had enough from that cocky hedgehog, but he's gone for now." The perplexed doctor stood out of his chair and walked to the front door to check the source.

As he arrived, Eggman pushed a button on the wall and opened the entrance. He looked outside to see nothing but the vast ocean that surrounded his base. "Hmm, that's odd. I'm sure that someone came knock-"

Just before he could finish his sentence, a dark entity revealed himself from being invisible and punched the doctor in the stomach.

"YAAAAHHHH!"

The incredible force sent him flying back and crashed into the wall behind him. He floated over to the barely conscious man and approached him with an evil appearance on his face.

Barely getting up, the fat man looked at him for a second. The entity was wearing a black cloak with red and purple stripes laced around the end of his sleeves and at the bottom. He had purple skin with a pointy nose and a trimmed goatee under his lower lip.

"Who the hell do you think you are?! Appearing out of nowhere and assaulting me and my home?!" Eggman yelled.

The entity did not respond back initially. Instead, he used his dark magic to reveal his staff, with a large crystal orb attached to a purple stick. The object was glowing with ominous power. The shadow figure pointed his staff at the doctor.

"Give me them, or you shall perish," the dark villain threatened with a deep voice.

"You're gonna have to be more specific than that," grunted Eggman.

"Don't play with me, fool. Give me _them_. NOW!"

"I'm not gonna give you anything with that kind of manner, especially to someone with a hideous face. Now why don't you move your-"

The dark figure had enough and released a lightning strike on the scientist, shocking in him with excruciating pain.

"YEOOOOOOWWWW! L-Let me g-g-g-gooo! This i-i-insta-a-ant!"

But the figure did not obey his command as the lightning attack continue to injure him with severe pain, running through his nervous system.

With Eggman occupied, the shadow busted through the metal walls of the base as if they were made of basic plaster. He salvaged through the scientist's lab, living room, and the rest of his lair before he reached his control room. There lied the humongous supercomputer Eggman has for him to do his research and brainstorming to plot against Sonic and his friends. There were also the multitude of TV screens capturing the live footage and activity going on around Mobius from his cameras. But the things that caught the villain's eye were none other than the two Chaos Emeralds he possessed. They were retained on the large control panel in plain sight, encased in a glass dome. To the scoundrel's advantage, he shattered the barrier with his dark scepter and swiped the prized objects with his cold, dark hands.

Grinning evilly, he made his way back to where Eggman was, only to find him unconscious from the pain he endured. The figure chortled deeply knowing that he was one step closer to succeeding his plan. Afterwards, he pulled out his staff again. Only this time, it shined a bright light emitting from the orb. The light began to enlarge as it surrounded both the figure and the unconscious Eggman. Once the light encompassed the two, it flashed away leaving nothing behind.

Meanwhile, two of Eggman's henchmen were still at the base, monitoring and cleaning up their leader's home. Both of them were some of Eggman's main followers, though they weren't the sharpest nor the strongest of his minions. One of whom was a robot with a yellow, cube-shaped head. He was making his way to the front entrance with a broom in his hands. As he continued sweeping, he came across the large hole in the wall. Right next to it was a large dent in the shape of an egg-like body.

"Huh, that's weird. I didn't think the boss liked running into walls. Then again, when does he even run?" the cube-shaped robot pondered. "Either way, I'm not cleaning that up. I wonder if Orbot knows anything about this."

Cubot simply ignored the damage and continued brushing the floors with his cleaning tool. It didn't take long for him to run into his robot friend. The red, round-headed robot was busy cleaning the kitchen and noticed his partner at the doorway.

"So, did you clean the front of the base like you were instructed?" Orbot asked in his diligent voice.

"I did. But do you know anything about that huge hole and the dent in the wall?" Cubot responded.

"Huge hole? Dent? What are you talking about? Did you have another one of those sugar rushes and damage his stuff? You know what happened the last time you went through one of the crazes and the way the boss reacted."

"No, but speaking of him, I happened to recognize him as the one who caused the dent. But I don't know what was with the open crevice."

"Are you sure you didn't do anything stupid?" Cubot only scratched his square noggin as his response. Shaking his head, Orbot continued, "Alright, fine. Show me this hole you speak of."

The two henchmen put down their brooms, and Cubot led the way to the front of the base. He revealed the damage to his friend.

"How did this happen? And where is that Eggman?" Orbot asked.

"I dunno. That's why I asked you. I haven't seen him since after he punched me in the head for wrecking his collection of robot figurines. And about that hole in the wall…"

The two robots followed through the broken divider and noticed the mess in each of the rooms the dark figure previously searched through. They reached Eggman's supercomputer room and searched for their leader. There was silence during their hunt before Cubot reached the control panel and spoke up.

"Uh, Orbot, you might wanna take a look at this."

Orbot floated over to Cubot and immediately noticed that the two Chaos Emeralds were gone. He then looked up at the security cameras where Cubot was playing back the footage of the confrontation between Eggman and the dark shadow.

"Oh, bolts. This is _not_ good. Not good at all…"

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Indeed. This isn't good at all. With Eggman surprisingly gone, along with the two Chaos Emeralds, what is the dark figure's next motive?_ _And who exactly is this infiltrator?_ _What will the robots do next? In the next chapter, the two parties meet up with each other!_

 _Please follow/favorite to catch up with the story, write a review, and thanks for reading!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I couldn't help but put Shulk into the conversation. 'I'm really feeling it!' is one of Shulk's memorable quotes in_ _Xenoblade Chronicles_ _, which would later be used as a taunt in_ _Super Smash Bros. for Wii U & 3DS_ _._


	4. Ch 3: Reunited

_Disclaimer:_ _I don't own rights or the characters to Mario and Sonic as they belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 3:** Reunited

 _Location: Toad Town_

Just in the shopping area of Toad Town was a green pipe. Mario and Luigi have made their out of the underground tunnels to reach the main square. In the district were the multitude of Toad citizens, varying with different colored spots on their heads and different colored jackets, vests, and pants they were wearing. As soon as the brothers popped out from the pipe, one of them greeted the heroes.

"Morning, Mario! Morning, Luigi" yelled the red-dotted denizen. "How are you guys doing?"

"Hello, Toad!" Mario remarked. "We're visiting the castle to meet up with our friends from Mobius. Then we're gonna be celebrating Luigi's birthday with a humongous party tonight!"

"Is that so? Well, happy birthday, Luigi!" he said enthusiastically.

"Thank you, Toad!" Luigi blushed.

"Hey everybody, say happy birthday to our green fellow here!" Toad exclaimed to the others.

As the two brothers were walking, they were greeted by dozens of Toads, each of them wishing Luigi a happy birthday. The green plumber thanked everyone as he continued to blush, mostly because he's not used to receiving a lot of attention before.

Mario noticed the red cheeks on his face. "Come on, Luigi. There's no need to feel embarrassed. It's your big day today!"

"I know, Mario. It's just everything's focused on me this time. It may be my birthday, but it's very abnormal compared to everyone saying hi to just you."

Luigi continued walking with Mario by his side until they reached the bridge in front of Peach's Castle. They approached two Toad guards equipped with spears and shields.

"Morning, sirs!" the guards said together as they took a bow. "Princess Peach and the others are waiting for you inside."

The brothers thanked the guards as they gained entry to the large front doors. Two more guards were there as they opened the entrance. Inside was the large lobby with red carpets and a logo of Peach's crown displayed in the center. Throughout the lobby are more Toads helping with the decorations: banners, embroideries, streamers, balloons, party lights, lanterns, and an assortment of other green and blue products to represent Luigi's colored clothing.

"Wow, I can't wait to see what this looks like tonight. Being back at the castle really feels nice, right Mario?" Luigi asked with a large smile.

"It sure does, Luigi. This place will be complete when the party starts tonight," Mario grinned back.

They walked up to the staircase in the middle of the foyer where they found some of their friends talking with each other: Yoshi, Toadette, Donkey Kong, and Diddy Kong. Princess Peach was also with the group chatting with Daisy, her best friend and ruler of Sarasaland, and Toadsworth, her grandfather. The ruler of the Mushroom Kingdom was the first to notice the Mario Bros. reaching the bottom of the steps.

"Oh, they're here!" squealed Princess Peach with glee. She walked down the stairs to formally welcome Mario and Luigi. Daisy and Toadsworth followed her as they saw the two gentlemen.

"Good morning, Princess!" Mario and Luigi greeted as they bowed in front of her Highness.

Peach offered a curtsy to her friends. "Hello, both of you. Happy birthday, Luigi!"

"Aww, thank you Peach!" Luigi replied returning from his bow. Peach walked up to the taller bro and gave him a large hug and a kiss on the nose. Luigi blushed dreamily and scratched the back of his head. Mario couldn't help but chuckle at his brother.

"Hi, Luigi!" Daisy called as she approached the trio. "Happy birthday to you!" She, too, gave Luigi a strong hug and a kiss on the nose.

"Hehe, thank you Daisy! I really appreciate it!"

Toadsworth, followed by the other friends, greeted the brothers and each said "Happy Birthday" to Luigi. Like he did with the Toads, he thanked everyone for the gratitude.

"So I heard that Sonic and the rest of his friends should be arriving here soon." Peach told the brothers. "It'll be really nice to see him and the others."

The friendly green dinosaur chimed in. "Yoshi! Yeah, I remember we had such fun times during the Olympics! I can't wait until we go to Tokyo!" **_(1)_**

"Heh, don't get too excited, Yoshi!" Mario patted his friend's saddle. "Don't forget, we're probably gonna have to partake the Winter Olympics again."

"As much as enjoy the winter sports, I can't stand the freezing temperatures," complained Daisy. "It makes me wonder how Sonic and the others are able to stay warm."

"Ooh, well that's because they have all that fur on their bodies. Just like how Diddy and I stay in warm in the cold!" Donkey Kong explained.

"Even though I don't have as much fur as him or the others, at least I have my lucky red cap and my shirt!" Diddy Kong added in.

"So, do you know when the guys will be here?" Toadette asked curiously.

"They said they be here in about fifteen minutes since we finished our call this morning." Mario looked at his wristwatch. "Sonic called me before nine, but now it's fifteen after. I wonder why they're running late."

"I suppose it doesn't really matter when they arrive as long as they're here. I sure miss Sonic and Tails, especially," Luigi added in.

"Well I'm sure they'll be arriving in no time," Peach replied with confidence.

The princess's statement would turn out more than true. Toad came running into the castle. "Guys, good news! We just heard Sonic and the others will be arriving shortly. They should appear outside the Mushroom Warp Pipe!"

"Really? Alright! Come on, guys! Let's head outside and see them!" Yoshi jumped for joy as he started running out of the castle. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong both punched their chests in excitement and followed the dinosaur. Toadette trailed them, skipping merrily.

Toadsworth came up to the brothers and princesses. "Well now, I'll continuing helping out with the decorations and the upcoming party. You fellows can go out and see your friends."

"Thank you, Toadsworth. Well, what are we waiting for?" Daisy replied as she started heading for the door, followed by Peach, Luigi, and Mario. The four of them have managed to catch up to Yoshi and the others who were standing eagerly next to the blue pipe outside of the palace. And within a matter of seconds, the blue hedgehog jumped out and landed with style.

"Ahh, it feels great to be back in the Mushroom Kingdom!" Sonic said with a large smile on his face. Tails was the next to pop out from the pipe, followed Knuckles, Amy, and the rest of the Sonic team.

"Hey everybody! Glad to see you're here!" Mario smirked with both of his hands up.

"Mario! Great to see you again!" Sonic replied. The two friends exchanged a friendly handshake and hug as they were reunited once again.

"Hey Tails! How's it going with you and your inventions?" Luigi greeted.

"Luigi! I'm doing well, thanks. And happy birthday, too!" Tails followed with a handshake and hug as well.

"Thanks, Tails! I really appreciate it."

"Luigi!" Sonic called to the younger brother. "Happy birthday, man!" He, too, grasped his friend's hand and shook it, followed by a strong embrace.

"Thanks, Sonic! It's great to meet up with each other again."

"Of course! Why would we want to miss a special day for you?" Sonic replied as he put his arm over Luigi's shoulder.

The rest of the gang each exchanged their hellos to their friends of the Mushroom Kingdom until they broke off in groups. Yoshi, Knuckles, and Silver were in a conversation of their own. Cream, Cheese, Blaze, Rouge and Amy joined the two princesses, Toad, and Toadette. The giant ape and monkey were conversing with the Chaotix. And the Mario Bros. were discussing with the dynamic duo of Sonic and Tails.

"So have you guys gotten into any new adventures lately?" Tails wondered.

"Well last month, Bowser's army was planning yet another attack on the kingdom. And yet again, Luigi and I had to rescue the princess from him," Mario muttered. "But as of right now, nothing else is new."

"Man, as much as you enjoy adventures, you must feel pretty annoyed with the same scenario all over again, huh?" Sonic thought. He knew about the brothers having to save Peach countless times from the evil Koopa King.

"It does get tiring," Luigi agreed. "But no matter what, my brother is always there to rescue her and save the world from utter chaos. That's why he's the main hero of the Mushroom Kingdom!"

"Luigi, you know I couldn't have saved the world without your help sometimes." Mario comforted his brother to make him feel better.

"It's true. Sometimes you're there for your brother and the adventure pays off!" Tails backed up Mario. "You may think of yourself as a sidekick, but you're a hero, too!"

"I guess you can say that. Thanks." Luigi responded with a smile.

"It's no big deal. We just want to make our friend feel special," Sonic grinned.

As the guys continued their conversation, Peach's helpers were busy decorating the castle, cooking food, setting up musical equipment, and other tasks that the party needs. They knew that it would take some time for the Toads to finish with the final preparations.

"So what should we do now?" Tails asked. "It's gonna take some time for the celebration to begin tonight."

Princess Peach's group walked up to the four friends. "I have an idea. Why don't you guys travel to E. Gadd's place? I forgot to tell you this earlier, but the professor called me this morning saying that he has a special present for Luigi."

" _Oh, shit..."_ Mario thought. When the princess mentioned the word 'present', his eyes bulged wide open. A bead of sweat also dripped from his forehead. Everyone seemed to notice his distress.

"Is something wrong, Mario?" Sonic questioned, raising an eyebrow.

"Oh, it's nothing," Mario lied. It was bad enough for most of the Mushroom Kingdom population to forget Luigi's name. Overall, he felt guilty for his younger bro being in his shadow throughout his whole life. But on this occasion, he forgot something else: a present for Luigi, on his birthday!

He continued with his fib, unaware that he was stuttering. "It's just that… Luigi will… have to walk through the Boo Woods to reach his lab."

Luigi immediately shuddered at the thought of walking through the creepy woods again. He remembered strolling through it the first time when he supposedly won a mansion in a contest he never entered, leading to his frightening mansion quest to save Mario. Sonic patted his shoulder to calm the green plumber.

"Don't worry, Luigi. We'll come with you if you want. We understand how you feel about ghosts and stuff like that. Even though I'm not afraid, we'll be there for you." Sonic assured.

"Yeah, and if Sonic's going, then I'll go with you too!" Tails added.

Luigi felt relaxed with the assistance of his friends. "Aww, I really appreciate it, guys. I would like some company. Plus, it's been ages since I've seen the professor. Are you coming, Mario?"

"Actually, I'm gonna go to Toad Town and… run a few errands I have. I hope you don't mind," the red plumber said with an apologetic look.

"Oh, ok." Luigi was slightly saddened. "If you're busy then I don't mind."

"Thanks, and sorry about that," Mario finished as he raced over to the shopping districts.

"Gee, Mario sure acted weird right there. I wonder what that was about," Amy pondered to Peach as she and the others looked at Mario running away until he was no longer in sight. The princess could only shake her head and placed her hands over her light blue brooch wondering what could be wrong.

"I would've expected him to be there for his brother, knowing that he's afraid of ghosts," Blaze pointed out.

"I'm sorry Blaze, but can you please not bring up _that_ word again?" begged Luigi.

"What, ghosts?" Luigi, once again, quivered with a cold feeling going down his spine when the Mobian princess mentioned it. "Oh right, sorry."

"Well anyways, why don't you guys head out now? We decided to help Peach with the party planning and decorating so we can get the event ready tonight," insisted Daisy. "Don't worry, Luigi, my shining knight, you'll be okay and we'll make sure your birthday ends on a strong note. Mario will be back soon with whatever he has to do." The tomboy princess then planted a kiss on her love's nose, causing Luigi to blush.

"Okey-dokey, then. Thanks for helping out with the party, girls." Luigi then faced Tails and Sonic. "Well guys," he took a deep breath in. "Let's-a-go. To Boo Woods!" The two nodded and followed him down the path to Toad Town. They later traveled down the dirt road south of the main square. Miles away would be where Professor E. Gadd's lab was located.

* * *

 _Location: Bowser's Castle_

On the other side of the Mushroom Kingdom lied the treacherous region of Dark Land. This area is the resting place of the fortified home to Bowser, the evil Koopa King. Throughout the castle, the henchman of Koopa Troopas, Hammer Bros., Dry Bones, Magikoopas, Koopatrols, and the seven Koopalings were out following their master's orders. They were stocking up on weapons, building airships, loading ammunition, or drawing out plans on how to attack the kingdom.

For years, Bowser has been kidnapping Princess Peach (for who knows how many times) to overthrow her off the throne to become the supreme leader of the Mushroom Kingdom, and possibly the entire world. Hell, he tried to rule the universe _twice_! However, his ruthless plans would always be hindered by Mario, traveling through various perilous worlds, dodging tough obstacles, and encountering tiring boss fights or enemy ambushes to rescue the princess and retain peace to its former glory. The Koopa King has had enough of the mustachioed plumbers for ruining his plans and always swore revenge on them. Unfortunately, nothing had gone his way. That is until what he's planning today.

Bowser was relaxing on his large throne after giving out commands to his army. To his right was his son, Bowser Jr., who was also sitting down on his small throne. As for the son, he's been completely bored for not doing anything, but his father reassured him by being vital to his plan to attack the castle again. Still, Jr. didn't seem motivated at the slightest as he rested his elbow on the armchair with his hand holding his head.

"Be patient, son," Bowser said glancing at him. "Soon, we'll be ready to launch and take over the castle and get Peach back. Besides, from what I heard, they're too busy planning Green 'Stache's party." The Koopa King had known Luigi's name for years considering he's the younger brother of his arch-nemesis. Sometimes he would help his brother on his adventures. Nonetheless, he tends to forget or mock him and called him different names, including Green 'Stache.

"I just don't know why we can't start the ambush now, or sooner rather than later," Jr. retorted with an impatient tone. "Can't we get the ships started now?"

"We will launch tonight, right when they won't expect us to. Those chumps are too busy having the day to celebrate Green Guy's birthday. Believe me, we're gonna destroy those pesky, mustached dimwits and their furry, little buddies, then we will snatch everyone up and keep them locked up until they surrender to my orders. GWAHAHAHA!"

"I still don't know why we can't go out _now_. Sitting around here is boring."

His son may be impatient, but Bowser was enthusiastic about his evil plan. Little did they know that someone else had a plan of their own for tonight.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Will Bowser and his troops successfully take down the Mario Bros.? We'll see about that later. Meanwhile, we'll catch up on Luigi, Tails, and Sonic meeting up with the Professor. We're also moments away from the big birthday party._

 _Please follow/favorite the story to catch up on the plot! Also, write a review so I can get some feedback! And as always, thanks for reading!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 _ **(1):**_ _The next Summer Olympic Games will be set up in Tokyo, so I decided to reference this event. But honestly, I think we had enough Mario & Sonic installments of the Olympics. In my opinion, we had enough after London 2012. I forgot they even made one for Sochi 2014, and I've seen Rio 2016 and the gameplay looks like shit. But hey, might as well add this if Sega and Nintendo do continue this series. But I rather prefer a __**real**_ _Mario & Sonic crossover adventure. __**That**_ _would blow my mind if they team up to create a game like that._


	5. Ch 4: The Professor Is In

_A/N:_ _Even though my first story isn't getting a lot of reviews, I have received over 250 views. But I like to give a special shoutout to Steel Magic. If you are reading this, thanks for reviewing each chapter you read. The feedback helps out a lot for me and I'm glad you love the story so far! Unfortunately, this chapter, plus another one coming up, will be fillers before we get to the story conflict. Nonetheless, thanks again for the support!_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _I changed the chapter title because the old one felt stupid to me._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own rights or the characters to Mario and Sonic as they belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 4:** The Professor Is In

Princess Peach and the rest of her group joined Toadsworth and her servants as they decorated the castle for Luigi's party. While they continue the contribution, the others decided to spend time in different regions of Mario's world. Yoshi invited Silver and Knuckles to Yoshi's Island to say hello to the other dinosaur inhabitants. The Kongs took the Chaotix to the Kongo Jungle and explored the vast forest searching for bananas and joining the members of the monkey bunch. They all planned to be back at the castle at around eight, which is when they'll start the night festivities.

Then there's Mario, who left the others claiming that he had something important to do. Unknowingly to them, Mario forgot to get a gift for his brother. He had to search through every store in Toad Town to think of the perfect present. To his dismay, the red plumber was clueless and couldn't decide on what to buy.

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

Meanwhile, the trio of Luigi, Tails, and Sonic were making their way (downtown) to meet up with Professor E. Gadd in his lab, located in the deep part of Boo Woods. **_(1)_** It was a long walk for the three heroes, but they managed to make it there. And thanks to Sonic and Tails, Luigi felt more relaxed that he had company while strolling through the creepy forest.

Behind the professor's indoor laboratory was Luigi's personal mansion, a tall three-story building with white walls, green windows, and a large 'L' symbol placed on the top-center. **_(2)_** But since Luigi is usually the only resident who lives there, he doesn't spend that much time at his personal mansion as often as the shared house he and Mario live in. Nevertheless, he always kept the key to the large building.

As they approached the lab, the man in green knocked on the door three times, waiting for a response. "Hello? Professor Gadd?"

After a few seconds passed, a speaker found above the door emitted a familiar voice. "Aah, Luigi! You have arrived! And with some friends, too. Come on in!" They made their way inside and headed towards E. Gadd's bunker, filled with his most prized possessions and inventions. Eventually, the three saw the short, old man with spiral glasses and a white lab coat.

"Good morning, Professor E. Gadd!" Luigi called.

"Hohoho, Luigi! Good to see you, my lad! I reckon you got the message from the princess, yes?"

"I sure did!" Just then, a bark came from behind E. Gadd, which turned out to Luigi's Polterpup came running enthusiastically towards him, with a bell dangling from his trademark red collar. The ghostly dog jumped up to his owner and started licking his face, causing Luigi to laugh. "Hahaha, hello Colombo! **_(3)_** It's good to see you, too." He patted his pet's head and gave him a belly rub before getting back up on his feet.

"Professor, you remember Sonic and Tails, right?"

"Oh, how can forget about these two nice folks? Great to meet again!" The professor shook both of their hands.

"Well, it's great to see you again, Professor," Sonic smiled.

"So how's it going? Have you been working on any inventions?" The curious fox asked. Knowing that E. Gadd is a fanatic with inventing and machines, Tails couldn't help but ask. He shared a strong relationship with the old chap.

"Actually, I have been creating something new and modified to one of the few gadgets I gave Luigi back then. In fact, it's the present I wanted to give you, sonny." The professor turned and walked over to his garage. After fumbling with his pile of inventions, he grabbed a wrapped box with a tag that said 'LUIGI' in big, green letters. "Happy birthday, Luigi! I hope you like it."

Luigi thanked E. Gadd and began to unwrap the gift. After taking off the top, he was astonished. Inside laid a familiar, large portable device. It had a green, sleek texture with a white circle and a large green L in the center. "Oh, wow! Another Dual Scream!"

"Aah, but this one is more technologically improved. Introducing the 3D Dual Scream! **_(4)_** This device is just like your old DS communicator, but with an improved battery life, a larger contact list, cameras, and it even provides classic portable gaming! But the big difference is that you can use the 3D slider to enhance your views when you take pictures or play games. Either way, this should be an enhancement to the original, bulky Dual Scream since the 3DS is lighter, despite its big size!"

"That's pretty impressive! Thank you so much, E. Gadd!" Luigi acclaimed.

"But wait! There's more! Since I know you're having a party at the castle and it won't start until tonight, I thought I would give you these!"

The professor signaled the Polterpup who barked in response. He went over to a table and grabbed a yellow envelope. Luigi took the package from the dog's mouth; inside was a large amount of guest passes and ballgame tickets! The passes were for the world-famous Mushroom Park, an amusement area full of high thrill rides, delicious food, fun minigames, and stunning aquatic shows featuring well-trained Dolphins, Cheep Cheeps, and Bloopers. The tickets allowed access to the Fireball Stadium, a large baseball stadium where thousands of spectators would cheer for the home team: the Flamin' Shrooms. Both landmarks were located outside the heart of Mushroom City.

"Whoa, this is incredible! I haven't been to Mushroom Park or Fireball Stadium in a long time!"

"Fireball Stadium? Mushroom Park?" Sonic raised an eyebrow. E. Gadd explained the two attractions to him and Tails, since they don't know much about the kingdom's famous landmarks. After discussing about it, the two friends got excited immediately.

"Wow, that's sounds like a lot of fun!" shouted Tails. "We should tell the others about this!"

"I'm sure the others would like to join you for a day of excitement and baseball. Speaking of which, where is that brother of yours, Luigi? Didn't he come with you?" Professor E. Gadd turned to Luigi, who gave him a somewhat sad look.

"No, professor. He said he had something important to do in town. It was strange, like he was forgetting something."

"It did seem peculiar of Mario just to leave like that, as well. I saw the look on his face and he seemed panicked and embarrassed about it," Sonic added.

The professor shook his head, but still sported a grin. "Oh well. I'm sure Mario will be done with his duties. But don't worry about that. Run along and have fun at the park and ballgame. It is a special day for you all. Anyways, I'll continue looking after Polterpup. He's been helping me fetch some equipment for my new projects or trying to learn tricks with that gold bone of his."

Colombo whimpered. He was sad to only see his owner for a little while. Unfortunately, he can't go with Luigi and his friends because the stadium and amusement park do not allow pets inside, unless they're service animals. Luigi noticed the depressed look on his face and rubbed its head. "Don't worry, _il mio cane_. **_(5)_** When we get back, I'll take you the party we're going to be throwing at the castle!" That brightened up the pup's mood as he began panting and wagging its tail to show his excitement. That also made Luigi put on a big smile, too.

"Well, thanks again for the gifts, E. Gadd. I'm sure we'll have a great time!"

"Come on, guys! We better tell the others right now. Maybe you can use that 3DS to contact them," Sonic replied.

"Bye, Professor Gadd! Bye, Colombo! Hope to see you soon!" Tails waved his hand to the old man as the three began to leave the lab.

The professor also shared his goodbye and waved back. The Polterpup barked back at their departure. Once the heroes were gone, the two went back to work, cleaning out the garage and drawing out blueprints for another invention.

Within a matter of minutes, Luigi fiddled with his new 3DS to add the contacts to his friends, both Mario and Sonic's. Like the original DS and the Game Boy Horror, there was a video chat communicator to contact his friends. He called the others telling them about the gifts he received from E. Gadd and invited them to join them at Mushroom City where they would be to the heart's content to enjoy the ballgame and spend time at the amusement park before they head back to Peach's Castle in time for the party.

Everyone managed to receive Luigi's calls and they were ecstatic to spend the afternoon at an amusement park AND at a baseball game. Even the Princess was excited about the event that she decided the others to take a well-deserved break to have some fun. Toadsworth assured her that he and the Toad staff will finish the rest of the party setup, but also warned her to be careful, being the overprotective Toad he is.

* * *

 _Location: Mushroom City_

It was 11:45 by the time Luigi, Sonic, and Tails found their friends, including Mario who was finally finished with his errands. The red plumber apologized for not being with him during his visit at E. Gadd's place. Luigi accepted his apology and the entire gang got ready to depart to the ballgame which would start at noon. The tickets the professor gave to Luigi were the best seats in the house: sitting behind home plate watching all the action between the offense and defense.

In front of a sold-out crowd full of outgoing Toads, Piantas, Nokis, Shy Guys, Koopas, and Goombas, the Flamin' Shrooms were hosting their rival, the Koopa Shelltops, one of the toughest opponents in the league known for their dangerous lineup. Both teams showed off their skills on the diamond with players showing off excellent defense to rally up the crowd. As for the offense, the Shrooms managed to score some runs against the Koopas thanks to Rex T., their strongest player, hammering a two-run bomb to left field, exciting the crowd for taking the lead, especially the Mario and Sonic parties.

Throughout the game, Sonic would always taunt the road team for being too slow to catch a baserunner stealing or if their throw to first base was too late. He started to get too cocky that security threatened to escort the blue hedgehog out of the sporting event if he continued.

Knuckles would get frustrated when the Shrooms' defense made a critical error on the field; one occurrence had a Toad misplay an easy pop fly in center, leading to two runs for the Shelltops. This caused Knuckles to accidentally hit Tails in the back of his head due to his annoyance. The fox responded back with a loud slap to the echidna's face.

Cream and Cheese were able to get an autographed ball from one of the Shrooms' players. Yoshi, DK, and Diddy either walk around the ballpark looking at all of the food stops in the stadium. In between innings, the Chaotix, Rouge, Toad, and Toadette went to see the fun activities and games set up outside the park. The rest of the group continued watching the ballgame.

Entering the bottom of ninth inning, the Shrooms were down by 4-2. But after a chain of hits and misplays by the Koopas, Rex T. was up with the bases loaded and one out. The sold-out audience were all on their feet, chanting the batter's name in hopes of a comeback win. Mario, Sonic, Luigi, and Tails were the most enthusiastic with the adrenaline rush. With a determined grin on the batter's face, he stepped into the box, ready to face the pitcher. A tan-skinned, buff Koopa was waiting for the signs from his catcher in an attempt to retire the fearsome slugger. The closer winded up and threw a nasty slider to Rex T.

Swinging on the first pitch, the strong Toad crushed the ball to straightaway center. Soon the audience started cheering as the projectile continued to sail high in the sky. The center fielder was running towards the wall and leaped up to reach over, but the ball was out of reach as it landed for a walk-off, game-winning grand slam!

Fireball Stadium was ecstatic, overjoyed, and amazed at the Shrooms' come-from-behind victory over the Shelltops by a final score of 6-4. The gang was jumping for joy, exchanging high fives with each other, and shouted _"Rex T. for MVP!"_ as they waited for the slugger to be mobbed by his teammates over home plate. By the time the game ended, it was almost 3 p.m. and the group headed out to Mushroom Park as they continued having fun on Luigi's big day.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Just a placeholder chapter to show the events between Sonic's arrival and the upcoming party. I decided to add a baseball game to make this longer (since baseball is played in the summer)_. _I tried my best to describe some of the general actions of the event._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _That's a lyric reference to 'A Thousand Miles' by Vanessa Carlton. I don't own rights to the song whatsoever._

 ** _(2):_** _Believe it or not, but I have NEVER played the original_ _Luigi's Mansion_ _, but I have watched Let's Plays of the game and did some research on_ _Super Mario Wiki_ _. The one I described is the 'Rank A' Mansion, which is found as an Easter egg in Luigi Circuit from_ _Mario Kart: Double Dash_ _. However, in_ _Dark Moon_ _, Luigi resides in the 'Rank D' house._

 ** _(3):_** _I looked up a website for Italian dog names and their meanings so I can give Luigi's dog a name in case 'Polterpup' was too redundant. I chose the name 'Colombo', which was described for a dog that 'likes to seek and explore'._

 _There are probably better names out there and this one may not be too fitting, but I thought it suited the dog who's known for its mischievous behavior and adventures in Luigi's Dark Moon quest._

 ** _(4):_** _Typically, it's a new Nintendo 3DS XL, but with a special design fittingly for the green plumber._

 ** _(5):_** _'Il mio cane' is Italian for 'My dog' (courtesy of Google Translate). I wanted Luigi to use show off his own foreign background as an Italian plumber._


	6. Ch 5: The Shadows Within

_A/N:_ _The first part of this chapter is another filler just to add more text. But the second half will be important, and we'll be seeing some characters that didn't get a lot of 'screen time', if you would say._

 _Also, I'm so sorry it took me a week to update! I just returned to college for my spring semester and didn't have the time to get back to the story. I hope you guys understand. Anyways, enjoy!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own rights or the characters to Mario and Sonic as they belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 5:** The Shadows Within

After the ballgame ended, Mario, Sonic, and their friends all headed out to Mushroom Park to continue their afternoon of leisure and celebration with Luigi. They entered the theme park with tons of attractions to check out: roller coasters, go-kart races, food stands, spectating shows, and the Aquamarine Overcast, where the trained aquatic creatures show off their amazing tricks and stunts to the crowd, with the addition of a large splash zone.

The gang decided to split up in groups to wherever they desire. Toad, Toadette, Blaze, Silver, Cream, and Cheese went off to the Spinning Mushroom Tops. DK, Diddy, Vector, Espio, Charmy, Knuckles, and Rouge decided to check out a laser-tag minigame. The remaining members of the group all decided to ride one of the largest roller coasters in the park: Gobblegut Burrow, a high-speed thrill ride with the coaster design based off one of the bosses Mario faced in his second galactic adventure. **_(1)_** Luigi was slightly anxious, but with reassurance from his friends, he felt more relaxed and decided to enjoy the rush with others by his side.

The Gobblegut Burrow was an inverted coaster where the train rides under the rails. The train consisted of eight rows with four seats per section. Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Tails took dibs on the front row (thanks to Sonic convincing the others). The red plumber and blue hedgehog filled in the outside seats with the green plumber and the yellow fox sitting in between them. Row two was taken by Peach, Daisy, Amy, and Yoshi. The other six rows were filled with other park guests, awaiting the adrenaline rush they're about to experience.

Once the seats were buckled up and checked for safety inspection, the announcer at the control desk clicked on the microphone. "Dispatch," he declared and the train began to ascend the tall hill in front of them. Luigi was slightly nervous as the train was close to reaching the apex of the hill, but his brother gave him a reassuring look, showing that the ride will be for fun, and that there's nothing to be afraid. The green plumber nodded and looked forward as Gobblegut began to descend.

Enthusiastic screams were heard from all the riders, screaming at the top of their lungs, especially Luigi. Through several corkscrews, antigravity sections, twists and turns, the Gobblegut coaster was blazing across the rails at its top speed of ninety miles per hour! Near the end of the ride, the train approached two cameras on the side with lights flashing, an indication that their pictures were taken.

By the time the friends departed the dragon ride, they headed to the photo booth to see their faces. Sonic and Mario both had silly expressions, Luigi's mouth was completely agape, and Tails' three bangs ended up getting ruffled. Yoshi and the girls all had cheerful looks, despite Peach's hair being messed up from the ride's pace. Everyone laughed at their appearances and continued looking for more attractions. Although the entire group were enjoying the exhilarating rides, they were unaware of the events happening in Sonic's home land…

* * *

 _Location: Station Square_

The city was bustling with citizens, either driving their vehicles or traveling by foot… but not in a leisurely fashion.

People started screaming and running for cover when the city was under attack. Floating high above the train station was the dark entity, holding the glowing, purple staff in his clutch. He was also in possession of two of the Chaos Emeralds, the ones he stole from Eggman's base, suspended inside the scepter's orb. The figure used the power of the gems to start an ambush on the town by obliterating buildings, flower patches, streetlights, and even innocent pedestrians. And that's with the help of some robots following his orders.

As the evil villain continued terrorizing Station Square, another figure happened to take note of the tragedy. Standing on the rooftop of a skyscraper was a black hedgehog with red streaks on his quills. He had rings around his wrists and the top of his white kicks. He clenched a fist as he looked at the destruction beneath him.

 _"Ridiculous,"_ he thought. _"Just when I thought Eggman would be back to his old tricks, I don't see a sign of the fat ass at all. Initially, I would be the one to wreak havoc while dealing with the faker. But that's another story." **(2)**_

He slightly looked up and darted a glare towards the station's roof. Shadow managed to spot the source of this catastrophe.

" _Something tells me that he looks like a new threat, or an up-and-coming minion to the doctor. Man, he looks despicable. Pathetic. Not even intimidating, to say the least. But, what's he attacking the square for? And how the hell does he have two Emeralds for himself?!"_

Later, his arm extended behind his head, ruffling through his dark-colored quills. He pulled out a shiny artifact. But it wasn't just a simple object one would find in an ancient temple. It was the cyan Chaos Emerald!

Shadow closed his eyes as he concentrated, clutching the emerald in his right hand. With enough energy, he shouted, "Chaos Control!" The black hedgehog teleported to the streets in front of the train station and stared at the mechs terrorizing the place. He began to skate with his hover shoes at full speed, delivering multiple spin attacks to the robots and defeating them one by one. This activity didn't go unnoticed.

The dark figure from above peered at Shadow as he wiped out the mechanical troops. He floated down from the station's roof which caught the hedgehog's attention, even though he wasn't fazed.

"So, you think it's just cool to ruin the moment? Why not let it continue?" the villain smirked.

Shadow glanced back at him with the condescending scowl on his muzzle. "Listen, I don't know who you are or what you're doing, other than commanding those inferior bots to ruin the city, but it better end right now!"

"Oh, you want me to stop?" The villain sarcastically responded. "Gee, let me think. Uh, no."

Just then, he used his scepter to send a blast of energy to the black hedgehog. Using his speed, Shadow zipped away from the attack using teleportation. He warped behind the enemy, crossing his arms showing that he was unimpressed.

"Come on, you gotta try better than that."

"If you insist, you little rodent." **_(3)_** The monster emitted more electricity attacks towards Shadow and to his dismay, he eluded each one.

Tired of dodging and wanting to get some action, Shadow formed into a black ball of fury and dashed towards the cloaked character. But before he could make contact with him, an impenetrable force knocked the hedgehog away.

"AAARRGH!" He groaned, barely landing on his feet. "What in Chaos was that?"

"Simple, a force field. With the power of these Emeralds, I can use their energy to make myself stronger. However, these priceless objects are necessary for something important. Almost as vital as my strength."

"Pfft. The way I see it, your strength is as big as your screwed-up ego. Now give it up. Hand over the Chaos Emeralds, or I'll stuff that scepter up your ass so far that you won't even fly straight," threatened Shadow.

"Okay, I've had enough of your pesky business. Shadelings! Come forth and destroy this hedgehog!"

Just then, another army of robots came running towards the two. These new robots were had shades of dark gray and black with red pupils shining furiously. Shadow wasn't intimidated by the new set of enemies, but one thought came to mind.

"Really, more of these pathetic chumps? Since when does Eggman have this many robots? Then again, he's always been devising them for a living."

"I see that you're quite interested in this army, considering that fat ass isn't the one who sent them."

That statement bewildered Shadow. "Wait, you mean Eggman's not involved? I thought you were some new minion of his, an ugly one in particular."

"Hey! Just because my nose is pointy doesn't make my appearance ugly."

"I was referring to that stupid goatee. But now that you mentioned it, that nose of yours looks makes you look like a possessed alien version of Pinocchio."

"Well going back to your question, no, he didn't send these mechs. In fact, he's being retained in a special location. Meanwhile, his, I mean, _my_ robots are busy doing their jobs: destroying the town and finding the rest of the Chaos Emeralds." The villain stared at the ebony animal with a foul grin.

"So if he isn't the one controlling these jackwads, then how did they fall under your rule?"

"Simple. By using the power of these gems, I refunctioned their circuits so they will obey my orders. They're already fulfilling part one. Now time for part two: to annihilate you, meddling hedgehog!"

The shadow pointed his staff at Shadow, signaling his army to ambush him. Ready for a fight, the black hedgehog dashed passed a couple robots, causing them to crash into each other, while spin-dashing into the remaining foes. Whenever they fired lasers at him, he transported away to avoid the damage.

Shadow may have won the fight against the Shadelings. But he didn't win the war against the dark figure.

"Hmm, you're pretty competent for a troublesome pest," he snickered, causing Shadow to scowl back. But no matter, I must retreat to the rest of my new, brainwashed army. They should be here with some _collectibles_ I'll be needing later. Later, rat! HAHAHAHA!"

Shadow glared at the floating figure as he exited the city. He was about to chase after him before he heard whirring from two familiar people. Or in this case, robots. Looking behind him, Shadow noticed Orbot and Cubot who reached the city at just the wrong time.

"Oh, Chaos! What happened here?" Orbot asked with a worried expression.

"This whole place is in ruins!" Cubot added on. By the time they approached the station, they ran into the hedgehog.

"Orbot? Cubot? What are you two doing here?" he questioned, raising an eyebrow.

The red robot spoke up. "Well you see, we were searching for Dr. Eggman. This morning, Cubot showed me that some strange man intruded our leader's base. Apparently, he attacked the doctor and caused a ton of damage inside. Worst of all, he broke into his control room and stole the two Chaos Emeralds he had."

Shadow widened his eyes as he took in what Orbot mentioned. "Wait, were those two emeralds red and white?"

"They are. How did you know?" Cubot wondered.

"I ran into that egomaniac when I saw him destroying Station Square. I may have taken down his pathetic group of robots, but he caused a lot of collateral damage to this place. He's using the emeralds for a bad reason. Yet oddly enough, he wasn't working with Eggman for sure."

"That's the thing. We saw the footage of our base of the dark creature attacking the boss, and we assumed he took him as hostage."

"Now that you said that, I did remember that shadow saying he retained him somewhere. But I don't know where. But I could care less about the overweight scientist. Right now, the main focus is that one beast. He's been sending troops to find the Chaos Emeralds, which are mostly Eggman's former robots."

"There has to be a reason why he would want the seven jewels. But for what?" Orbot put his hand on his round chin.

"Well there's some good news. The figure never knew I had this." Shadow pulled out the light blue emerald from his quills, shining brightly in front of the trio.

"Whoa. You had that all along? Didn't he notice it within your fur?" the square-headed robot asked.

He placed the object back in his quills and replied. "No. But one thing's certain. He cannot get the rest of the Emeralds. I already have one and we know he has two. There are four more somewhere else. And if they fall into the wrong hands…"

"We actually know where one of them is," Orbot interjected.

"You do?" Shadow enlarged his eyes.

"Sonic has the yellow emerald. He took it with him to visit his friends in the other dimension. However, he and the others don't know what just happened here. And something tells me that we could be in for a disaster if we don't tell him." Orbot wasn't comfortable with speaking to the enemy, but he thought it was necessary to address the situation to him.

Shadow closed his eyes and contemplated. He, too, wasn't in the mood to talk to Sonic. Despite being the 'Ultimate Life Form', he knew that the three of them weren't strong enough to stop this evil entity. Not even by himself. They were going to require some help, which would include his speedy, blue rival.

"Suffice it to say, I despise the _faker_ , but we have no choice. Somehow, we're going to have to get those Chaos Emeralds back, with his help, too," he replied with a determined look.

The two robot henchmen nodded and made their way to the mushroom pipe. Shadow placed the emerald in the slot and turned to the keypad. That's when he remembered his conversation with Tails about the guys going to celebrate Luigi's birthday. Tails decided to give him the password if he wanted to change his mind and go.

But in this case, he didn't need to visit the Mushroom Kingdom to go to the party and have fun. He needed to reach the other world to warn Sonic and the others of the tragedy.

After typing in the code, making sure that neither Orbot nor Cubot saw, the pipe entrance opened. The three looked at each other with glances and nodded together. Cubot, Orbot, and Shadow made their way inside, leaving behind the destruction from their home.

However, high above the train station and hiding behind the clock tower, the dark figure stood there once again. He witnessed the hedgehog and the robots entering the pipe to the other dimension. But, he also noticed one crucial mistake: neither of them remembered to close the pipe door! ( ** _4)_ ** Beforehand, he was going to return to Eggman's base to check on his brainwashed minions and see if they recovered the scattered Chaos Emeralds.

But, he decided to lay that off after spying on the group. He wanted to begin the next phase of his plan. He needed to perform a certain action in the other world that night. And the opportunity to accomplish that couldn't have been at a more convenient time for him.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Well, I decided to give Shadow the spotlight in the second half since I decided to add the guys' day at the amusement park for extra content. But with Shadow gone and no one else to defend Mobius, what will happen next? Will the villain's new brainwashed robots find the rest of the emeralds for him? And what does he seek in Mario's world? Find out later!_

 _Thanks for reading this chapter of Hidden Bravery! Follow/favorite the story, write a review, and I'll try to upload the next one soon!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Gobblegut is a boss fought in Super Mario Galaxy 2. He was the inspiration for the Dragon Driftway course in Mario Kart 8's DLC, which is why I made up this ride._

 ** _(2):_** _I tried to reference one of the opening cutscenes from Sonic Adventure 2, even though I only played a little bit of the game. I have seen Let's Plays of it, though. Shadow was created as the 'Ultimate Life Form' to help Eggman conquer the world. At one point, Sonic was taken by G.U.N. by mistake instead of him for causing chaos with the military force. Shadow may be Sonic's rival, but he has shown to be an ally at times._

 _To this day, I'm still confused to what Shadow's role is supposed to be, despite the fact he's one of the favorite characters in the series. Not to mention, one of the most badass characters._

 ** _(3):_** _I did some research on hedgehogs and found out that they are under the Order of Eulipotyphla. Without going into too much detail, they are NOT rodents (that Order is known as Rodentia). That's probably why Sonic takes offense from Eggman whenever he calls him a rat._ _But as for Shadow, he couldn't care less about insults directed to him, unless they taint his identity as the 'Ultimate Life Form'._

 ** _(4):_** _Even though the antagonist has two Emeralds, he doesn't know the passcode to enter the pipe. So, my evil mind decided to let him get an easy chance to continue his ploy. Otherwise, his plan won't come to full effect until later! MWHAHAHAHA! …I'm sorry._


	7. Ch 6: Birthday Bash

_A/N:_ _This is the other, full placeholder chapter I mentioned back in Ch. 4. Just a good time for the guys to celebrate Luigi's birthday, nothing much other than that. Sorry if it's short. Anyways, enjoy reading!_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _I changed the chapter title, and I got rid of the song I put in here because I've been told that I can't copy musical lyrics into my story. A new Post-Chapter Note has been replaced._**

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 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own rights or the characters to Mario and Sonic as they belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 6:** Birthday Bash

 _Location: Toad Town_

It was 7:45 p.m. by the time the gang made it back to Toad Town as they were close to returning to Peach's Castle. They finished their day at Mushroom Park and Fireball Stadium. On the way home, Luigi went back to E. Gadd's lab to see Colombo again. The Polterpup barked happily now that he was walking beside his owner and his friends. The only ones who weren't with the group were DK and Diddy Kong. Unfortunately, they needed to head back to Kongo Jungle when their friend Dixie called them for an emergency. Apparently, King K. Rool had been stealing their prized possessions: bananas. They gave their goodbyes to their friends before leaving for their home.

No one ate dinner since they knew there was going to be a lot of party food and snacks as well as the final event of the night: the big dance party. The only exception was that Charmy was too obsessed with the cotton candy he bought at the theme park.

"Calm down, Charmy!" warned Vector. "You don't want to chow down very fast. You're gonna get a stomach ache."

"I just don't know why you can't wait for the food back at the castle. The party's gonna start in 15 minutes. That's not much time. You could have been patient," muttered Espio.

"But I can't wait _that_ long. Besides, this cotton candy is delicious!" The young bee continued to scarf down the sugary treat as the purple chameleon shook his head.

"It's not that big of a deal, guys," Silver tagged along. "He's probably gonna get tired soon. Besides, he doesn't have to eat anything more for dinner."

"Well, do you remember that last time that little insect got hyped up on too much sugar?" Knuckles growled. "He started spazzing out at the New Year's Eve party when he chugged four bottles of cherry soda."

"I remember that," Amy reminisced. "Charmy drank too much of those sodas and almost broke my portrait of Sonic. That picture was taken on our romantic vacation!"

 _"Yeah, SO romantic when you get dragged by force to the beach," Sonic mumbled in his thoughts. "Ugh, I hate water and I hate when she makes me take selfies with her!"_

"He's just lucky he didn't feel the wrath of my Piko Piko Hammer!" She exclaimed as she summoned her large weapon.

"I'm sure none of us wants to get brutalized by your hammer, Amy," Tails responded. "You do have a temper with that thing, you know."

Amy glared at the fox who put his hands up in defense, even though he had a point. The pink hedgehog expresses kindness and sisterly qualities on the outside (other than her obsessiveness with Sonic). But if someone were to do something bad to her "lover" or say something offensive to her face, she would get riled up faster than a raging pedestrian ripping his shirt off in the middle of a street fight.

Mario broke up the friends' conversation. "Amy, put the hammer away. Someone could get seriously injured. Last time, you whacked Luigi in the nose when you thought he ate your last chocolate chip cookie."

"And that extremely hurt! It's not my fault Yoshi was hungry. He loves all kinds of food!" the green plumber added.

"And I apologized to you. I just couldn't control my appetite," the dinosaur said sadly.

"You're right, guys. Sorry." Amy stuffed the hammer from behind.

"Where the hell does she put that thing in anyway?" Luigi whispered to Mario. His brother gave a clueless shrug to him.

"Do you know, Sonic?" he asked the blue hedgehog.

"It's… complicated, guys," he murmured awkwardly.

* * *

Afterwards, everyone made it back to the castle bridge in time for the party. Toadsworth was standing outside between the Toad guards.

"Aah, Princess! You're back safely with the others. How was your day?"

"It was an exciting experience!" Peach responded with delight.

She told her grandfather of all the fun rides and games they went through as well as the aftermath of the Shrooms' baseball game. As they talked, the group entered the castle doors to see the interior was completely decorated. Balloons, streamers, and disco lights filled the lobby with a large banner hung above the staircase that read "HAPPY BIRTHDAY, LUIGI!" The green plumber was speechless at the sight of the castle. All of the Toads inside all shouted in merriment to him.

"Well Luigi, what do you think?" Daisy asked him. Luigi's mouth was still agape. The flower princess snapped him out of his trance by giving him a kiss on the cheek.

Luigi shook his head and blushed before giving out a response. "Daisy, Peach, it's wonderful!" And thank you guys for helping the princesses," Luigi referred to the female animal friends, Cheese, Toad, and Toadette.

"You're welcome, Mr. Luigi! We're all glad you love it!" Cream responded kindly.

"Now are we gonna get this started or what?" Rouge asked.

"Right on with that! Let's party!" yelled Sonic.

With a Toad hosting as DJ, all the guests began dancing to the songs he played. Some were classic hits that put everyone in a positive mood while others were popular hits that people enjoyed listening to. Everyone was having a great time dancing and singing, or enjoying the food. There were trays and plates filled with hot wings, spaghetti and meatballs, chips and dip, pizza, ice cream, and more. There was an assortment of beverages between soda, fruit punch, lemonade, and milkshakes. All in all, the party started off well for everyone.

* * *

At one point, Mario decided to hold a Mario Kart race at the castle. With some help from the Toads, they brought over some standard karts for the participants to use. Once they were set up, Mario grabbed the microphone from the DJ's speaker.

"Attention, everyone!" Everyone turned to him. "How about we have some more fun with some Mario Kart?" **_(1)_**

"Hey, I'm down for a race! How about you, Luigi?" Daisy asked.

"I guess that sounds fun."

"Hey, I want to join! I haven't raced in a vehicle for a while since I prefer running!" Sonic shouted.

"I want to join, too!" Tails added.

"So do I!" squealed Amy.

"Alright! Everyone who wants to race will head outside the castle. The others can sit back and watch the event! Or they can hop on for the next race!"

Just like a regular competition, there were eight racers to go head-to-head. The first set of drivers were an equal array of Mario and Sonic characters. This included Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. As for the remainder of the party, they went off to the sidelines to cheer their friends on.

"Okay, everyone! Here are the rules!" Toad addressed with a map layout of the course. "It's a one-loop track, meaning there aren't multiple laps. You will start off at the entrance of Peach's castle. We drive through Toad Town in a large circle track surrounding the vicinity. Once you make the full loop, you will drive back through Toad Town to finish where you started. The first person to make it back will win the race! Any questions?"

Knuckles raised his hand. "Will there be items in this contest?"

"Would it be Mario Kart without items?" Toad countered.

"Okay, you got a point."

"The items you can use are as followed. There will be Bananas, Green Shells, Red Shells, Mushrooms, and even the triple sets of all of them. There's also the Golden Mushroom, the Super Horn, Boomerang Flowers, Fire Flowers, Piranha Plants, Stars, Bullet Bills, Bloopers, Bob-Ombs, Lightning, and everyone's most hated weapon: the dreaded Spiny Shell!"

"The true friendship breaker," Luigi murmured.

"You will receive a certain item based on the position you're in during the race. Try to play strategically when you use your items! And try not to go off track!"

"Come on, Sonic! You can do it!" Vector shouted.

"You got this, Tails!" waved Charmy.

"I got money on you, Knuckles!" Espio told him.

"I'm rooting for you, Amy!" Cream yelled.

"Gonna guess Peach is going to win this one," Blaze thought.

"I'm betting on the flower princess," Rouge smirked.

"Go, Mario!" Yoshi flutter-jumped.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo gave Luigi his own support.

"Racers! Start your engines!" Everyone revved up as the countdown commenced. "3... 2... 1... GO!" Toad waved his flags.

All eight drivers got a boost, and they took for the town. Mario, being the experienced driver, took the lead. Sonic was following behind in his blue standard vehicle. The standings continued down the line with Peach, Tails, Amy, Daisy, Knuckles, and Luigi.

On the first set of item boxes, Mario picked up a Banana and held it behind his kart. Sonic grabbed a Red Shell and fired at Mario to get rid of his defense. Peach and Amy each had Mushrooms for an extra boost. Tails grabbed a Fire Flower, pelting the flames at his opponents in front and from behind. Daisy tossed a Boomerang ahead, dazing Amy in the process. When it came back, she threw it behind her. It passed Knuckles who missed the first box. But the boomerang did hit Luigi.

"Whoops! Sorry, birthday boy!" she teased.

"Oh, you're going to regret that!" he laughed.

Luigi received a Golden Mushroom to dash his way. He found himself neck and neck with Daisy for sixth place.

"Come on, Luigi. You know I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Oh, I know. You're just going to experience something I like to call, 'payback'!" Luigi spawned a Piranha Plant in front of his kart. The plant chomped Daisy's vehicle, causing her to topple.

"Oof! Okay then! I see how it is! You're going down, Luigi!" she smiled with narrowed eyes.

Halfway through, the Mario Kart race continued in a frenzy for the people in the back. Multiple items were being thrown and used to the point where things got chaotic. Knuckles struck lightning on his opponents to help him catch up. Amy dropped to seventh place as she failed to get an item. Tails and Peach were surprised at the Bob-omb that Sonic dropped behind. After the explosion, they were passed by Luigi and Daisy when they both received Triple Mushrooms. In the top two spots, Sonic was next to Mario in a close competition for first place.

"Sorry, Mario. But you know how speed is my game, and I can't afford to lose!"

"Whatever you say, Sonic. But can you see _this_ coming?"

The red plumber swerved in front after running over a dash panel. He positioned himself in front of the blue hedgehog with a Green Shell dragging behind his kart. Sonic spun forward from the collision.

"OW! Alright! Two can play at that game!" he sneered.

The racers were on the final section as they made their way back to the entrance of Toad Town. Mario was still in first place with the others trailing behind. Sonic was still in second, then it was Daisy remained in third, followed by Knuckles, Amy, Peach, Tails, and Luigi who made an accidental drift into a wall. But as they grabbed the final set of items, the birthday plumber had a special present for his brother.

"Mario's going to hate me for this," he playfully sung.

The blue Spiny Shell raced forward, knocking out a few racers in the process.

"Hey, do you hear something?" Sonic asked as he was barely next to Mario.

"I bet you're trying to distract me."

"No, seriously. I hear something... whirring."

"Whirring?"

Mario and Sonic looked behind to see Daisy get knocked out by the blue weapon.

"Oh, crap," they simultaneously mumbled.

The shell spun over Mario's head since he was in first. Sonic didn't have time to brake, so the two of them spun out in the explosion.

"OW! So that what it feels like to get hit by one of those!"

"You can never avoid them unless you have the Super Horn. But I only got a Banana!"

As they tried to accelerate, it was the red echidna who took the lead.

"Yeah, baby! I'm gonna win!"

Knuckles crossed the checkered finish line at the castle entrance first. The standings ended with him taking first place, Tails earning second thanks to a last-second Bullet Bill, and Daisy earning the bronze. Mario and Sonic both got tough luck earning fourth and fifth respectively, with Peach, Amy, and Luigi taking the bottom three spots.

"Oh yeah! I'm the winner!" Knuckles raised a fist triumphantly.

"Whatever," Amy rolled her eyes. "You only won because Mario and Sonic got destroyed by a Blue Shell."

"Actually, the term is Spiny Shell," Tails corrected.

"But everyone always calls it a Blue Shell. It's just easier to say that."

"Well either way, congratulations, Knuckles," Luigi told him.

"Thanks, man. Sorry you got last place."

"That's okay. I think I had the highlight of the race when I threw that Blue Shell."

"Wait, _you_ threw that?!" Mario widened his eyes.

"Sorry, Mario," he shrugged with a guilty smile.

"Oh, Luigi! I will admit, that's one way to end a race!"

After everyone congratulated Knuckles on his win and the others for their driving skills, they all went back inside the castle.

Sonic grabbed a cold Shroom Shake to cool down. "So guys, when are we gonna get to cutting the cake?"

"Oh, that's right! This is probably a good time to bring it out. Thanks for reminding me, Sonic." Peach answered.

"Eh, it's no problem! This entire party has sure made me hungry, even after eating that plate of chili dogs! My compliments to the chef, by the way," Sonic responded before taking a sip of his beverage.

Peach asked Daisy, Amy, and Cream for their help to bring out the cake. Toad, Toadsworth, and Toadette also followed. Meanwhile, the four friends were sitting down, still tired from their dancing. Later, they were joined by Yoshi, Silver and Blaze while the Chaotix grabbed some drinks. Colombo jumped into Luigi's lap and playfully licked his face, causing the mustachioed man and his friends to chuckle. He rubbed his head which made the Polterpup pant with enjoyment. So far, Luigi's birthday party was a blast to start the night after a day of fun.

Someone else was in the mood for some fun… But it's something that the guys won't enjoy. Nor would they expect it.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _The party was a big hit and a fun night for Luigi and the gang. I know this chapter is another placeholder, but don't worry! A critical plot point will take place in the next chapter! I mean, that's what the cliffhanger is indicating._

 _Thanks for reading! Review, follow, favorite and all that good stuff!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I originally had a dancing scene here, but I got rid of it since I used an actual song when I'm not allowed to. I replaced it with a Mario Kart race instead._


	8. Ch 7: Ghastly Ambush

_A/N:_ _Finally, we're getting an important cutscene in this chapter! Read to find out!_

 _But before we start, I would like to thank everyone for **500+ views** for __Hidden Bravery_ _!_

 _My other note is that I would like to get more feedback from more than one person. (Thanks again, Steel Magic!) I want to know if anyone else likes where the story is going. So I encourage you to leave a review, as well as to follow/favorite the story. Sorry if I sound desperate, but I would appreciate it!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own rights or the characters to Mario and Sonic as they belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 7:** Ghastly Ambush

 _Location: Bowser's Castle_

As the Koopa King sat in his throne, his army was fully prepared. Cannons were filled with ammunition, the troops took their positions, and the Koopalings prepared for takeoff. It was that time… again… for Bowser to attack the Mushroom Kingdom and capture Princess Peach.

"GWAHAHAHA! Excellent work, my minions! Now that we're set up, we can finally ambush those stupid bros. and take my beautiful soon-to-be bride for good!" Bowser sat up from his throne and headed towards his own aircraft.

"Finally! Now we can get some action going!" Jr. rushed out of his seat and followed his father.

In the battle station room of the castle were eight airships, each with a large face attached the bow. **_(1)_** Seven of them were rightfully owned by the Koopalings: Larry, Ludwig, Wendy, Roy, Morton, Iggy, and Lemmy. The last one featured Bowser's intimidating icon. Bowser headed towards his own with Jr. right behind.

The young Koopa kid has his own airship, but with Bowser's insignia, but he's more used to his dad's Koopa Clown Car, a helicopter-like vehicle. Jr. couldn't care less as he admired the flying contraption. Why have an airship that's best for shooting cannonballs, Bob-ombs, and Bullet Bills when you can have a transportation device equipped with the same weapons, but also has missiles and lasers? **_(2)_**

"Dad!" Larry yelled from his airship. ** _(3)_** "The airships are ready for launch!"

"All systems are good to go!" Iggy added.

"I'm so ready. Now let's get dis show on da road!" Roy roared back.

Morton, Lemmy, Wendy, and Ludwig were also prepared in their flying vehicles as Bowser stood tall on the deck of his. Bowser Jr. jumped inside the Clown Car and spun the propeller below to float in midair.

"Alright, kids! Time to set sail!" Bowser punched a large red button on the nearby wall which opened the humongous Bowser gate of the room. As his Koopa Troopa underlings hoisted up the anchor, the large turtle turned to his control panel and began powering up the propellers. After a matter of seconds, they spun rapidly and lifted up the large vehicle. Bowser set forth for the door with his Koopalings following behind.

Behind the airships were a fleet of Paratroopas. Below them was the army of Hammer Bros., Dry Bones, and the rest of Bowser's minions who were following behind Kamek, a trusted Magikoopa associate to Bowser, flying on his broomstick with a magic wand held in his right claw. **_(4)_** They slowly marched out of the boundaries of Dark Land as they have a long trek towards the Mushroom Kingdom grounds.

Bowser grinned evilly, thinking about how he's ready to destroy his arch enemies once and for all. Everything seemed to fall in place in his favor… Well, _seemed to_ …

* * *

 _Location: Evershade Valley_

Just as Bowser's army departed to Peach's Castle, another ambush was starting. Across the country, far from the Mushroom Kingdom, was the ghostly region of where Luigi's Dark Moon quest took place: Evershade Valley.

The inhabitants were the cheeky, yet amiable ghosts who lived in peace and harmony together, that is when the Dark Moon is shining bright above as a whole in the dark sky. Dating back to Luigi's adventure, King Boo managed to destroy the purple celestial body from the sky which caused all of the ghosts to turn into hostile, dangerous creatures under the ruler's control, which is far different than their normal hospitable manner. But thanks to the green plumber, he recovered the broken Dark Moon pieces, defeated his arch-rival, saved his brother a second time from a painting, and restored the ghosts back to normal.

The main inhabitants were the Greenies who, as the name implies, are green ghosts that helped Professor E. Gadd with his inventions and research on paranormal activities. Other ghastly species include Slammers, Sneakers, Gobbers, Possessors, and more. Most of the ghosts were busy, cleaning out the professor's secondary bunker, and the five mansions located in the vicinity. The other mischievous ghouls were either playing with frisbees, having a feast, maintaining the gardens, or just watching the view with the Dark Moon shining down with its aura. Everything was peaceful for the residents, until a disturbing presence entered the valley.

A Greenie, relaxing outside on the porch of the Gloomy Manor, was relaxing in his wooden chair as he began to sense something strange. Curious, he floated out to the front gate to investigate. Soon, he felt a disruption as a chill went down his spine (theoretically speaking). He looked up to where the Dark Moon was. From below, the Greenie spotted an entity hovering towards the purple crescent. The figure then pulled out his dark staff and began charging its energy. With its eyes widened, the Greenie knew what the figure was doing. Instinctively, he rushed away from the scene as quickly as he could, leaving Evershade Valley in panic mode.

By the time the ghost retreated, the monster let off a huge beam of light towards the Dark Moon, causing the object to shake vigorously in the sky. The rest of the ghosts who were outside of the mansions noticed the dark energy and turned full attention to the moon. Before they could even react, the Dark Moon shattered into six fragments, yet again, and dispersed throughout the dark realm. Just like before, the ghosts then lost their pupils and acted aggressive. The ghouls inside were also affected by the collapse of the Dark Moon and started tearing up the interior of the buildings.

Knowing that the next phase of his plan was complete, the dark figure descended to the front of Gloomy Manor. He saw a horde of Greenies, a couple of Slammers, and a few Sneakers messing around with one another. He wielded his staff and banged it on the ground causing a small shockwave that got the ghouls' attention.

The monster approached the group immediately. "So, how are you all doing this fine evening?" None of the ghosts responded back.

"Well no matter. This is what's going on," he continued. "You all work for me now. And for your first task, I want you to rally up all of the ghosts that live in this region and report back to me. Then, I want you to find the pieces of the Dark Moon and take them to the Possessors. Make sure you keep them separate from each other, or there will be trouble. You understand?"

Without hesitation, the ghouls nodded back.

"Perfect. Now begone and obey what I just commanded you!" The ghosts then departed to scour through Evershade and inside the mansions to find the remaining residents who were possessed under mind control. The evil figure then chuckled evilly with a smirk on his face. "Hehehe, it's all coming together now. With all of the ghosts under my control, I'll be another step closer to the end of all worlds."

* * *

 _Location: Peach's Castle_

While the green plumber and his friends continued to chat at the table, the guys heard the kitchen doors flew open. The DJ managed to stop the background music in time.

"Surprise!" Princess Peach and the others cheered as they brought out Luigi's birthday treat and the others were ecstatic at the sight.

It was a 4-tiered half vanilla, half chocolate cake with buttercream icing. Along the sides of each layer were green & blue stripes and decorative piping. Around the bottom cake was a pattern of candy pieces in the shape of the traditional Power Stars, Fire Flowers, and Super Acorns. At the top were a circle of candles surrounding a smiling, standing figurine of the birthday man with a message written in green icing which read "Happy Birthday, Luigi!"

"Mamma Mia! That's one big cake!" Mario exclaimed. He has had multiple occasions where Peach baked him cakes after rescuing her from Bowser. But the princess and her chefs went all out on the monstrosity which was nowhere close to the ones he had. He was slightly jealous, but that didn't stop him from craving the sweet dessert.

Sonic and Tails were also eyeballing at the cake with amazement. "Wow. You guys did a great job on the design!" the two-tailed fox complimented.

"Definitely! I've never had a birthday cake like _that_!" Sonic added with enthusiasm.

"Thanks, guys," Daisy replied. "Well, Luigi, what do you think?" Luigi was speechless as his mouth remained wide opened. Daisy chuckled and walked towards her lover, planting a kiss on his nose. Luigi's eyes widened before she pulled away, then shook his head to bring his mind back to thought. "I can see that you're surprised."

Luigi looked up at Daisy and the others. "Yeah, no kidding. Thank you so much!"

Amy took a lighter and lit all the candles. Turning to him, she said, "Alright, Luigi! Make a wish!"

The man in green stared at the cake before he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. But before he had the chance to blow out the candles, the party heard a loud bang, startling everyone.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _The dark figure has destroyed the Dark Moon and has the ghosts under his command, but to what purpose? And what happened to the runaway Greenie? Did he get possessed too? Also, what was that noise at the castle? Find out in the next chapter!_

 _And with that, thanks for reading! Be sure to follow/favorite the story if you're interested and leave a review!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _This is a general description of the airships found in the games_ _New Super Mario Bros. U_ _and_ _New Super Luigi U_ _._

 ** _(2):_** _The Koopa Clown Car that Bowser Jr. is controlling is equipped with Bob-ombs inside, like how he used Bob-ombs in the fight in_ _NSMBU_ _, just before reaching Peach's transformed castle. The lasers are a small reference to the Superstar Showdown minigame in_ _Mario Party 8_ _since they shoot out of the mouth. Bullet Bill cannons were also used in that boss fight. And I decided to add missiles, because why not?_

 ** _(3):_** _I decided to make the Koopalings part of Bowser's family to make the dialogue easier to write (but just assume that they're adopted)._

 ** _(4):_** _I know that some people say that Kamek is a girl, which I can see that. But after researching on_ _Super Mario Wiki_ _and looking up dialogue text in games, Kamek is a male. Please don't flame me for this._


	9. Ch 8: Enter the Koopa King

_A/N:_ _New chapter, and a longer one, too! Hope you guys like it!_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _The ending for the chapter was edited because I initially wrote that Jr. infiltrated the castle to find Peach, but I had him fight Luigi in the following chapter. If anyone was confused, I changed it to get rid of this discrepancy._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own Nintendo or Sega. All of us know this by now. Believe me, I'm tired of copying and pasting the same thing every chapter._

* * *

 **Chapter 8:** Enter the Koopa King **_(1)_**

 _Location: Outside of Toad Town_

"Koopas, set your targets! Aim for the town square. And after that, Mushroom Castle! Kamek, send the others to raid the city!" ordered Ludwig through his Koopa Kommunicator. **_(2)_**

Kamek, flying on his broom, instructed the junior minions to ambush the town. Koopatrols and Goombas busted down doors, Hammer Bros. broke the windows their mallets while Paratroopas flew in, ducking their heads in their winged shells before crashing into two-story windows. Koopas started to chase down innocent Toads as the mushroom-headed citizens started running away, flailing their arms and screaming at the top of their lungs.

Below the airship's deck were three underlings aiming the cannons after they were given the signal by the blue-haired turtle. The other Koopalings followed in pursuit behind Ludwig and Bowser's whose large flying vehicle led the pack.

"Those Toads won't know what's coming for them!" Lemmy cheered while balancing on his ball. "Once the attack is successful, we'll take over this kingdom in no time!"

"Urgh, I'll get my revenge on that red 'stache soon. My hammer packs a wallop that's waiting to smash his face to pieces!" Morton grunted.

"Maybe if I see that blue hedgehog and his friends, I'll show him that _my_ rings are far superior and to his! And fashionable, too!" Wendy bragged. "The power of my attacks will knock them out in one fell swoop!"

Bowser couldn't help but chuckle at his kids after listening to their remarks from his communication device. _"They're starting to become like me. Bossy, confident, determined to take down Mario… One day, they will become as strong as I am right now. But, that strength won't last forever. I am getting pretty old. Not only that, but fatigued, overwhelmed, and depressed. All because of that blasted mustached man…_ "

He clenched his right fist before continuing his thoughts. _"At some point, I will have to give up my place as 'King of the Koopas' and the ruler of Dark Land. All of those battles, adventures,_ ** _losses_** _… they're building up on me. Sometimes, I feel like I can't take it anymore. But, I'm not one who gives up easily. For I, King Bowser, do not accept failure_ (even though he admitted his numerous defeats). _Princess Peach will be mine, but hopefully before I retire._

The large-shelled turtle then looked up to his son. Jr., sitting comfortably in his Koopa Clown Car, was hovering beside the airship, looking ahead at the Mushroom Kingdom's castle grounds.

Bowser was still in deep thought, wondering if Peach would be comfortable of an eternity with him, his son, his adopted Koopalings, and the rest of his clan. But he knew how much she would reject him because his behavior, rude demeanor, and horrid plans to take over the kingdom. And whenever he kidnapped the princess, she felt disturbed, unappreciated, and disrespected. Add saddened to the list because of her, praying that Mario would be safe and come to her rescue.

Those occasions have been the same ever since the Isle Delfino vacation crash…

* * *

 _~Flashback to Super Mario Sunshine_ _ **(3)**_

 _..._

 _Location: Isle Delfino_

 _Riding on Pinna Park's roller coaster, Mario and FLUDD fired a fourth water rocket at the large Mecha-Bowser robot, standing tall (technically short since it was reduced to just a Bowser head and its legs) above the amusement park's wading pool. The head began to malfunction and revealed Mario's shadow doppelganger and the princess beside him. Mario got off the ride and ran towards the disassembled machine. He looked up when he stopped to glimpse at the two characters._

 _"Mario!" Princess Peach called out. Shadow Mario stepped forward and waved his paintbrush in a defensive action, slightly frightening the woman._

 _Suddenly, the enemy performed a spin jump before landing in view for Mario, only in a different figure._

 _"What the hell?" Mario thought with confusion. Both he and Peach blinked in surprise._

 _He took off the magical mask that covered his mouth to reveal the identity of the graffiti perpetrator._

 _"Leave my Mama alone, you bad man! I won't let you take Mama Peach away!"_

 _"Mama? …Mama Peach? I'm your… mama?!" Peach gasped._

 _"Is Peach hiding something from me? Or… wait, what am I thinking! And what kind of question is_ that? _" Mario was bewildered about this, but he knew this newly revealed enemy had to be related to his lifelong archenemy_ (hence, the Mecha-Bowser robot, duh) _. Apparently, he was Bowser's son. He looked like the Koopa King as a baby, but he seemed to be genetically unrelated to any of the Koopalings._

 _"Yeah, Papa told me all about it. He told me my Mama got kidnapped by a bad man named Mario…" Bowser Jr. explained out loud._

 _"What a joke. This son of a… 'whatever'… is gullible enough for this?" Mario pondered._

 _"So you're Bowser's son…" Peach continued slowly._

 _"No shit, Princess. But who's the MOTHER?!"_ _ **(4)**_

 _"So_ I _came here to rescue her!" Jr. retorted._

 _"So the graffiti… that was you?" questioned the Mushroom Princess._

 _Bowser Jr. held up his tool in front of everyone. "This… is my magic brush." The weapon was indeed a paintbrush with colorful graffiti glimmering on the bristles and a strange blue emblem of a familiar face. "When I draw with this, all my wishes come true! A strange old man in a white coat gave it to me…"_

 _"A strange old man… in a white coat…?" FLUDD repeated with curiosity._

 _"But why would you pretend to be Mario?" Peach was still confused with this situation; the same applied to Mario._

 _The graffiti artist explained more of his father's side of the story. "Papa told me everything. He said, 'Mario's a bully. He never fights fair!' He said, 'Jr., you gotta try to outsmart Mario.'"_

 _He finished imitating his dad's voice. "So I tried to get Mario sent to prison, but they didn't lock him up, and now he came to steal Mama Peach again!"_

 _Mario attempted to speak, but Jr. spoke one last time. "You… you pest! Stop following us!" With that, the young Koopa back flipped to his control panel and the Mecha-Bowser head began to shake forcefully._

 _"Hey, stop!" Mario yelled._

 _Peach held up her hand and cried for help. "No! Mario!"_

 _The hatch of the head closed as a giant Bowser Jr. balloon inflated above the robot head and lifted it into the sky._

 _"No! Not again!" FLUDD complained._

 _The balloon, carrying Mecha-Bowser's head with Jr., and Princess Peach inside, began to fly towards Corona Mountain, the volcanic region of the tropical island. It was after that boss fight that Mario knew who ruined his summer vacation and why. And he knew where that irritating Koopa and his bratty son were hiding. The red plumber was determined to rescue his special one and recover the rest of the missing Shine Sprites…_

 _~End of flashback_

* * *

For years, Bowser had trained his son and the Koopalings to kidnap the princess multiple times. He knew that their skills would come in handy if one of them were to take the throne of the Koopa clan.

The large Koopa wondered if he should hand the title to his one and only son. He had relied on the little tyke to stop Mario in his galactic adventures and most of his 2D journeys. ** _(5)_** But his immaturity was self-evident and he was still so young, making him an unideal candidate to become the next ruler. Bowser wanted his son to prosper into a strong Koopa like himself, but also wanted to make sure that he understands the responsibilities of being king and the consequences he would face in the future.

Otherwise, the frontrunner would be Ludwig, the eldest Koopaling. He had already matured into a young Koopa adult and was one of the most deceiving, yet trustworthy members of the Koopa family with the ability to clone himself and shoot multiple magic shots. He was taught by Kamek to learn the capabilities of being the crowned ruler.

Then, Bowser shook his head. He was getting distracted from his current plan: invading the castle, kidnapping Peach, and defeating the Mario Bros. once and for all!

He set his thoughts aside and took out his Kommunicator, contacting each of the Koopalings.

"Alright, kids! We're now approaching the castle. Prepare for launch sequence in the next 20 seconds. Make sure you don't miss!"

All seven had the same response: "You got it!"

Bowser then called for his son. "Jr., get those Bob-ombs ready! And activate the lasers!"

Jr. smirked while looking down at his father. "You got it, Papa! Bob-ombs are good to go! Lasers are charging up right now!"

"BWAHAHAHA! Time to wreck this party!" the evil Koopa King snickered.

Unbeknownst to any of the Koopa clan, including the troops already terrorizing Toad Town's houses and shops, there were some figures were running towards Peach's Castle.

* * *

 _Location: Peach's Castle_

 _The man in green stared at the cake before he closed his eyes and took in a deep breath. But before he had the chance to blow out the candles, the party heard a loud bang, startling everyone._

…

The castle doors flew wide open, slamming against the interior walls. Within the entrance stood a black hedgehog and two robots.

Before they could get a word in edgewise, Rouge was the first to speak up. "What the… Shadow?!"

"Geez, did you have to freak us out like that? A simple knock would have been fine!" Knuckles snapped.

"Wait a minute. Why _are_ you here anyways?" Tails raised an eyebrow.

"And why is Orbot and Cubot-"

Amy got interrupted by the black hedgehog. "Will you let me speak at all, damn it?!"

Shadow's friends went wide-eyed and let him speak. Mario, Luigi, and the others remained silent, yet they were all perplexed.

"Sonic," he turned to the blue rival, "we've got trouble back in our world. Someone has been terrorizing Station Square!"

Never in a million years would Sonic witness Shadow telling him something tragic. The black creature rarely looked up to his speedy counterpart.

"Well, looks like Eggman is up to no good," Sonic scoffed. Punching his right fist in his left hand, he continued, "that narcissistic doctor is gonna pay for evil plans!"

Orbot frantically shook his head. "No, Sonic. You don't understand. Eggman is gone. He had nothing to do with terrorizing the city. He just… vanished."

Sonic and company were immediately confused until Cubot explained what happened back at the base.

"After we saw the guy infiltrate the lair and took the two Chaos Emeralds we stored, we searched desperately for our boss. Hours later, we encountered Shadow in Station Square, only to find it obliterated."

Orbot added on. "We managed to get here using Shadow's emerald to open up the warp pipe and we ran here to tell you the bad news."

"So far, our lead is that Eggman is nowhere to be found, and he's not the one taking over Mobius. Some dark purple figure is. He has two emeralds and the robots he brainwashed are frantically searching for them back in our world," Shadow concluded.

"Oh my! That's terrible! What are we going to do?" Cream panicked with Cheese grasping her shoulder.

"We're gonna take down that jerk and get those emeralds back!" Sonic pumped his fist in the air.

"By the way, did you guys remember to lock up the pipe hatch?" Tails questioned.

Then, Shadow raised an eyebrow. He stood there with Orbot and Cubot floating in silence, looking at one another.

"You guys _did_ close the entrance, right?" Tails emphasized with a little anger in his voice.

There was no response again.

The yellow fox facepalmed. "You've got to be kidding me…" he muttered under his breath before yelling. "How could you forget to close a door?!"

"Hey, you're just lucky we're here to tell you guys. This is no time for fun and games, even you were enjoying that all day. I'm the one to witness what happened and had to fight some rogues," Shadow defended.

"Yeah, but who knows if that mystery figure you guys mentioned will appear in this dimension," Mario spoke with frustration. "We've already had enough trouble with Bowser."

"Oh please, I'm pretty sure he won't even bother destroying your pathetic world." Little did Shadow and the robots know that was entirely wrong. Mario was getting more irritated by the second, alongside Sonic and his friends.

At that moment, the guys started arguing as the princesses and the rest of the party were watching the awkward confrontation.

Suddenly, Luigi felt a disturbance. In fact, _two_ disturbances. One felt very close to approaching the castle. The other sent chills up his spine, as if someone was watching from above. He heard a whirring sound from outside. The green man walked over to the open window. Within the distance were eight airships and a flying helicopter-like dome. He knew those vehicles from anywhere.

 _"Those bastards are at it again, huh?"_ he thought to himself.

Luigi glared as he turned his attention to Toad Town, where he heard various Toads, shrieking and crying for help as he saw the shelled minions harassing the mushroom people and taking over the shops and buildings.

Then, the plumber heard something he wish didn't have: a launched cannonball. But it was loud enough to catch everyone's attention, startling everyone again. Shadow was barely fazed, but Cubot jumped into Orbot's arms.

Mario then noticed his brother at the window. "Luigi? What's going on?"

Before he could answer, the cannonball caused a huge explosion and an earthquake that put the heroes off-balanced. It landed in front of the open window Luigi stood near, causing him to jump in surprise and land on his back.

"Luigi!" Daisy called and ran towards him. "Are you okay?" she asked as the princess offered her hand.

"Ugh, sort of. But we've got ourselves another situation," Luigi complained as he got up. "Bowser's back."

Speaking of the devil, the gang heard the Koopa King's infamous laugh as his airship flew in front of the palace. Everyone turned their attention to the open front door. Mario raced outside to see Bowser, standing at the bow.

"BWAHAHA! So Mario, having fun at Wimpy Stache's party? Well too bad, because I'm about to crash it!"

Sonic, Tails, and Luigi followed the red plumber outside.

"You better get out of here, or I'll have to pulverize your ugly snout again!" Mario hissed.

"If only your threats were as good as mine," Bowser snickered. "Koopalings, set fire to the castle! We're not leaving without the princess!"

With that, the Koopa kids fired cannonball after cannonball, causing critical damage to the exterior. Knuckles, Amy, Yoshi, Silver, and Shadow also went outside and took battle positions. The Chaotix, Blaze, and Rouge led Peach, Daisy, Cream, Cheese, the robots, and the Toads as they ran for a safe spot in the castle dorms.

It was that time again when Mario had a score to settle against Bowser. The only difference was that not only did he have Luigi and Yoshi who stood beside him, but he also had Sonic and his allies, ready for action.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _So Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and the others will take on Bowser and his Koopa army in the next one. But there are some concerns. Will Princess Peach be safe from another kidnapping? Where did she and the others go to hide?_

 _And for you guys, what do you think is the second thing that Luigi felt near his presence?_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _A knockoff of the movie '_ _Enter the Dragon'_ _, except 'Koopa King' takes place in the chapter title._

 _ **(2):**_ _Communicators designed for the Koopalings, Jr., and Bowser. Nothing special, just regular walkie-talkies, each with their respective colors by their shell and skin. Had to throw in the 'K' for alliteration and using the same letter._

 ** _(3):_** _Throwback to_ _Super Mario Sunshine_ _! This was the first 3D Mario game I ever played, but finished 100% almost a decade after I first got the game. Now that I know all of the secrets, I can replay Sunshine with full memory on all of the Shine Sprites, and even the dreaded blue coins. Still this was one of my favorite Mario games despite the shitty voice acting and glitches found in the game. _

**_(4):_** _There has been controversy on Peach actually being Jr.'s mom, but that's just wrong to me. VERY wrong. Some several fanfictions I read explained that Bowser's former wife passed away while Jr. was still an egg. From there, Bowser would kidnap Peach multiple times in a sense of possession, even leading to the lie he told Jr. that started the events in_ _SMS_ _. To me, that makes the most sense on how Bowser Jr. became a mainstream character in the Mario series._

 ** _(5):_** _2D adventures include_ _New Super Mario Bros._ _series, starting with the DS game (with the exception of_ _NSMB2_ _)._


	10. Ch 9: Airship Showdowns

_Before we get started with author's notes and the story, I just wanted to say thanks to those who reviewed the last chapter!_

 _Steel Magic:_ _Thanks again for reviewing every chapter! I'm glad you like how I portrayed Jr. and the Koopalings with Bowser. I can't wait for the next chapter in your Sonic/Mario crossover. :)_

 _Mitha Sentro:_ _Thanks for the review and I'm glad you like my choice of characters! It feels nice to receive feedback from others._

* * *

 _A/N:_ _Sorry for the long wait! I had to deal with a lot of school work as I'm 3 weeks into my spring semester. Plus, I uploaded later than expected because of Super Bowl Sunday._

 _As a side note, I'm going to be busy for the next couple of weeks with homework, exams, and other assignments for my classes. I'll have to see when I can continue writing the story, but my time will be limited until spring break (in March)._

 _Anyways, here's Ch. 9 of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _! Enjoy!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Still don't own anything but the story._

* * *

 **Chapter 9:** Airship Showdowns

With the Koopa troop terrorizing Toad Town, Bowser and his kids invaded Mushroom Castle in hopes of beating the Mario Bros. and taking Princess Peach away. Mario and the gang took guard as they stood outside the castle.

"So what's the plan, Mario?" Luigi asked his brother for confirmation.

"Let's split up!" demanded the red-clad plumber. "Luigi and I will take on Bowser. The rest of you, choose a foe and don't show any mercy!"

"I'll take on Wendy!" Sonic shouted.

"Leave Lemmy to me!" Tails called out.

All of the heroes chose their Koopaling targets: Silver claimed Ludwig, Shadow took Roy, Yoshi took Iggy, Amy picked Larry, and Knuckles chose Morton. ** _(1)_**

"Well kids, it's time for your calling. Get rid of these pests!" Bowser yelled while pointing at them.

Mario and Luigi used their acrobatic jumps to board Bowser's airship. While the red plumber faced the evil Koopa king, the man in green focused his attention to the kid floating in the Clown Car. The other heroes jumped to the other airships, one by one, as they approached their enemies.

* * *

Ludwig, the oldest Koopaling, met his silver-furred opponent. He snickered into his fist and let out an intriguing sneer. "Ahem, oh! So this is who I'm facing? A dull, white rat?"

Silver took offense to his words. "For your information, my fur is silver. And I'm a _hedgehog_!"

"I could care less what color your fur is." Ludwig pointed the blue scepter to his opponent. "Let's just see if you're competent for a fight."

"Oh, I'm ready to take you down, turtle breath," he sneered.

The two floated in midair. Ludwig create two clones of himself as the real one tried to outsmart the hero. With his blue wand, he blasted three blue fireballs while the clones tried to interfere with two. **_(2)_** Silver figured out the secret and had an idea who the real one is. Using telekinesis, Silver held out his hands and stalled the flaming projectiles.

"TAKE THIS!" he yelled. **_(3)_** Two of them whipped back at the fake clones while another targeted the real Ludwig.

"Ugh! Im-impressive… But that's not enough to take me down!" he jeered.

"Oh yeah? We'll see about that," the hedgehog snarled.

The two sustained the same fight pattern: Ludwig would clone himself, dole out his dangerous fireballs, Silver retaliated with his telekinetic powers, repeat. They remained in a long, gruesome deadlock as they clashed against each other. But then, Silver went with a different tactic. He noticed some of the cannons shooting out ammunition. He held out his hands to freeze the cannonballs and aimed them right at the dark blue-haired Koopa.

"What the- Owwww!" Three projectiles crushed into Ludwig and caused him to fly off his aircraft. "NOOOOO!" he howled in angst.

Silver pumped a fist for his victory. "Yes! That's one down!"

* * *

Shadow used Chaos Control with the assistance of the Chaos Emerald he possessed. He teleported to the deck of Roy's ship. He faced the purple-shelled Koopa with the hot-pink sunglasses and a blank wand held in his right claw.

"Pfft. What kind of douchebag wears sunglasses when it's clearly night time?" scoffed the black hedgehog.

"Grrr… Listen 'ere, punk!" Roy growled and pointed at his accessory. "These glasses were given to my father before he passed away. They're my last memory of 'im, so don't ruin 'em!"

"Whatever, douche."

"DON'T CALL ME 'DAT! Now get your ass over 'ere so I can pound you!"

Shadow teleported to where he was two feet in front of him. "Happy?"

"More than ever. Now bring it!"

Roy started off with a lunge and slammed his feet onto the deck in an attempt to stun the black hedgehog. But by using brawn over brains, he failed to realize that Shadow could hover with his white skates.

"Pitiful," he scowled. "Didn't even faze me."

"Now you're just asking fo' it," warned the pink-headed brute.

Roy fired three purple fireballs consecutively as they aimed towards Shadow. He then charged at him like a madman to run him over. However, the hedgehog had an attack of his own.

"Chaos Spear!"

A burst of energy in the form of a spear shot out from the hands when he clutched the cyan gem. The shocking bolt clashed into the Koopaling's chest, and sent him flying backwards as landed on his shell. Roy struggled to get up from the attack as Shadow looked at him, unimpressed. He fired another bolt and sent the tough Koopa away as Roy plummeted below.

"Again, pitiful." He raised the Chaos Emerald once more and transported to the front of the castle.

* * *

Yoshi flutter-jumped, flailing his legs and arms as he gained height. The dinosaur landed on the green-shelled Koopaling's aircraft. Iggy stood with a smirk on his crazy-eyed face. He taunted him by slapping his ass twice with his yellow wand and wielded it in the air. Unlike most of them, Iggy wasn't as intimidating with his appearance. He was more hyperactive and childish like his brother, Lemmy. But he is the smartest with his technical and speedy qualities.

"Well, little fella. I hate to do this to you. But it's for the best," the thin Koopaling warned.

Yoshi narrowed his eyes. He was not the most belligerent ally on Mario's team, nor was he the bravest. Even the slightest hit from a Goomba can freak him out. But he wasn't going to back down and run away like a coward. He was determined to help out his buddy since he rescued him on Dinosaur Land when Bowser first invaded the paradise. **_(4)_**

Iggy fired light-green flames from his weapon. Yoshi fluttered to dodge one of them. Then, he used his tongue to his advantage and swallowed a fireball. The dinosaur blew out the flame from inside and floated towards the energetic enemy.

"Yeow! That burns!" he screamed, rubbing his shell in pain.

"I'm not done yet!" Yoshi fluttered up again and prepared his signature ground pound move. "BRRRROING-HA!" He yelled out his battle cry and pounced on Iggy's head, avoiding the spiky shell.

"Ouch! Man, those are some toned-up legs you've got there! How do you do that?"

"A Yoshi never reveals his secrets. But for now, I'm famished," the dinosaur answered with a smirk on his face.

"Uh-oh. Don't tell me you're gonna-"

Before Iggy could finish his statement, Yoshi whipped out his long, red tongue again. He tangled the green-shelled turtle around his body and pulled him inside his mouth.

"YAAAAHHHH! NO! Anything but this!"

Yoshi ignored him as he struggled to escape from within. And unfortunately for Iggy, but satisfying for the power-hungry dinosaur, he created a special egg and… released it from his behind.

"Ughh… That… was… horrifying…" Iggy shuddered from inside the barrier. Yoshi then kicked the egg off the ship. It cracked as it landed on the ground, but Iggy remained still and scarred from his defeat. Yoshi jumped happily for his comedic act.

* * *

Amy lunged up to the ship owned by the youngest Koopaling, Larry. He had a light blue mohawk, a blue star on the side of his green face, fangs hanging outside his mouth, and an orange wand.

"Well, hello there…" the Koopa whistled at his rival. "Who do we have here? A fine lady to my liking? I would say so."

The pink hedgehog was disgusted. "Ugh, are you hitting on me? Listen, starboy. I'm only into another blue-haired guy. He's way cuter than your ugly face. And besides, you're too young for me."

"Well maybe I can charm you with my speed and athletic skills."

"As if. My boyfriend-"

"I'm NOT your boyfriend, Amy! How many times do I have to say that?!" Sonic interrupted, who barely heard her from Wendy's ship beside Larry's.

"Whatever." She continued her remark. "Sonic is _extremely_ faster than you'll ever be. He's taken down Eggman and his robots numerous times before, so how hard is it to take down a bunch of turtles?"

"Well, can your Sonic do _this_?" With the flick of his wand, Larry unleashed two sky blue fireballs, followed by an array of three. Amy dodged, twirled, and ducked from each one as the Koopa spawned more from his magic utensil. As she evaded more of them, she stopped to ask a question.

"Say Larry, if you call yourself athletic, does that mean you like sports?"

He froze with confusion, wondering why she would stop to ask that. "Well, yeah. I do like sports." He fired another flame after answering.

"Are you a fan of baseball?"

"Yeah. In fact, it's my favorite sport. But what does this have to do with our fight?"

He got his answer when Amy summoned her Piko-Piko hammer. "Well, then. Batter up!"

Larry dropped his jaw as the pink hedgehog clutched her humongous tool and swung. The face of the hammer made hard contact with the fireball. Next thing he knew, it was heading right towards him!

"YAAAHHHH!" The fiery blaze hit Larry in the chest, sending him flying off his airship and falling to the castle grounds.

* **THUD** *

The young Koopa landed heavily in the dirt, his right leg twitching from the pain he suffered.

"And he's outta here!" Amy celebrated.

* * *

"Okay, buddy. You wanna piece of me? Then it's go time!" Knuckles was on deck aboard Morton's flying ship. He cracked his gloved namesakes and punched them together as a sign indicating that he's ready for battle.

"I hope you love knuckle sandwiches, 'cause I'm gonna prepare one for you!" the dark-skinned Koopa bellowed.

"Hey! Only I can use that line on others!"

"Says who? You never trademarked that phrase."

"Well… maybe I will… when I win this fight," the red echidna stuttered.

The two threw various punches at each other. They were both well matched for their physical qualities. For Knuckles, he has decent speed for a powerhouse character with skinny arms and legs; however, he doesn't have quick reaction time. As for Morton, the Koopa may be one of the youngest, but he was similar to his pal Roy in terms of brawn, yet sluggish due to his poor flexibility. Nonetheless, one can admit that both rivals were strong. One could also call both of them dumbfounded since neither of them have common sense and don't think before they act. This would lead them to losing their temper.

They continued their fist fight, making contact with each other in the face, chest, and arms. They continued to brawl while catching their breath on small occasions. But like the fight between Silver and Ludwig, it was a total stalemate as neither one of them had the upper hand or earned a victory over their competition to start with.

Then Knuckles, uncharacteristically, used his brain and had an idea. "You know, I never got to mention how buff your arms look."

That caught Morton Koopa Jr. off guard. "Huh? Uhh, well thanks, I guess. I do lift weights every day."

Knuckles approached him and the Koopa started to back away. "Oh don't mind me. I just want to take a look at those arms. They're meatier than mine." He held out a hand and gripped his biceps. Morton raised an eyebrow of suspicion. "Do you bench press? If so, what's your best?"

Morton was still bewildered why the echidna was asking questions in the middle of their fight. But he casually answered back. "I do. I can do 220. 230 if I'm really feeling it."

"That's impressive. But do you want to know my secret of feeling the burn?"

"And what's that?"

He got his answer when Knuckles unexpectedly raised his spiked knuckle and punched him hard below the jaw. "AUUUGGGHHH!" he groaned from the extreme intensity. "God damn it! You tricked me!"

"Hell yeah, I did." He followed his statement with another jab, this time in the chest, followed by another, only this one got his noggin.

"Daah! Ooof! WAIT!" Morton held up a hand, but Knuckles didn't oblige. He pursued the dark-shelled Koopa and launched a massive knuckle sandwich to him, resulting in a large purple bruise. "Bwaah! Damn you, Red!" he cried as he, too, fell off his own airship.

"Heh, now I know how Tails feels when it comes to strategy," emphasized Knuckles. "And as for manipulation, oh it's so freaking sweet to fool that dolt!"

* * *

Thanks to his twin appendages, the two-tailed fox flew to Lemmy's ship where the smallest Koopaling was entertaining himself on top of his balancing ball.

"Time to go balls to the wall with my special moves!" the bright orange-shelled turtle squealed.

"Well let's see if you have the balls to take me down," scowled Tails.

"Dang, for a little guy of a freak like you, I didn't think you would say things like that." He finished his remark with a cheeky grin.

 _Freak_. That broke the straw on the camel's back. The one word that ruined him during his childhood. The one word that made him cry every time someone called him that. It was the one that he loathed hearing at all, regardless if it was directed to him or not. Tails clenched a fist and growled. To say he was angry was an understatement. But in all seriousness, he was extremely pissed off.

Tails flew in the air and dodged each of the bouncing balls Lemmy summoned from his green wand. The little minion then switched to throwing bomb balls at the fox. The yellow kitsune was able to catch one of them. Before it exploded, he tossed the bomb back at Lemmy.

"Whoa!" The rainbow-haired child evaded the surprise throw, but almost lost his balance. "Ha-ha! You missed me!"

He spawned another bomb and Tails caught it with his quick reflexes. Then, the fox smiled as he devised a plan. On 'accident', he threw the bomb high in the air.

"Wow, that's some horrible aim you got there!" Lemmy laughed pitifully.

"Wasn't aiming at ya," Tails smirked.

Lemmy, being the innocent Koopa he is, didn't understand him at first. That is until he heard the explosion from behind. Apparently, the bomb Tails threw knocked the propellers off the airship. They stopped spinning and broke off from the tall mast. The airship started to sink from the sky.

"What? Hey! This isn't supposed to happen! Why did you do that?"

"Isn't it obvious? Take down the ship, take down its member. Have a nice trip!" Tails saluted as he took off.

"Oh no! Ooof!" The airship leaned on one side while plummeting to the ground that it caused Lemmy to fall off his ball and land on his stomach. "Dang it!" he cried.

"Yes! I did it!" Tails celebrated and pumped a fist in the air. "Now I hope Sonic and the brothers finish their battles soon."

* * *

Speaking of Sonic, he faced the seventh Koopaling and the only female, Wendy.

"Nice rings you got there. Too bad they aren't as flashy as mine!" he pointed out with a silly smirk on his muzzle.

The pink-shelled Koopa was well-accessorized (if you would consider that). Other than the rings around her wrists, she wore pink high heels, a pink bow with white polka dots above her head, and a red-beaded necklace. She was also the possessor of the purple wand.

"I had a feeling you would come face me. Are you entranced by my beauty? Or is it the jewelry that perks your emerald eyes?"

The way Wendy talked to Sonic gave him a weird sensation in his heart. No, it's not lust. (Blech…) More like disgust. "Ugh, please. I already have enough pink in my life."

"Oh, you mean your hot-headed girlfriend?" taunted Wendy.

"She's not my girlfriend! Jeez, don't you guys listen?! And believe me, you wouldn't want to say stuff like that in front of her or she'll whip the lights out of you!"

"How about we get to the part where I'll whip you out of my airship?" She took a fighting pose to signal that she was ready.

"Oh I've been waiting for that. Only it's gonna be the other way around!"

Unlike the others, Sonic attempted to first strike his enemy. Wendy dodged with her spiked shell, counteracting against the hedgehog's blue quills. The spin dash seemed ineffective so Sonic tried to think of another approach. Meanwhile, Wendy released a water blast from her wand. The attack drenched Sonic from head to shoe.

"Aw man! I hate being wet!"

"What's the matter with that? Just being lucky you're not fighting inside the ship. Otherwise, you'd be swimming."

"And thank goodness THAT'S not happening!" Sonic was hydrophobic, but his fear of water would surpass his breaking point if he started struggling in a large body of water. He remembered one time Tails had to get him out of a lake he sunk in from an ambush planted by Eggman. He's not a strong swimmer, but people give him credit for facing his fears in the swimming events during their time at the Summer Olympics with Mario and friends.

"I'm not finished with you!" Wendy shouted. She lashed out her magic rings and the objects bounced around the deck towards the cobalt blue hedgehog.

Meanwhile, Sonic was still getting water out of his ears. Then he turned his attention to the flying rings. "Whoa!" he panted, barely avoiding them thanks to his fast reaction time. "Heh, too slow, too bad!"

Next, Sonic decided to use his quick feet and ran in circles, creating a blue streak that surrounded the Koopa girl. Wendy tried to follow his movements but ended up regretting her actions as she spun around and became dizzy on the spot. As she was distracted, Sonic tried his signature spin dash once more and made a direct target. He slammed right into Wendy and she went defenseless as she laid on her shell. "Hehe! And that's why speed's my game!" he smiled.

* * *

The Mario Bros. made it to Bowser and his son who was flying in his Clown Car taunting them.

"Hehehehe! Do you really think you're hot stuff when it comes to facing me and my dad? Well guess again! We've come prepared to take you down!"

"You've said that almost every other time," ridiculed Luigi. "Mario and I always know what you're gonna pull off, so it shouldn't be a surprise if you launch Bullet Bills or fire at us."

"Speaking of fire, we've got something special for you." Mario pulled out two familiar items from the pocket of his overalls. In his hand were two Fire Flowers. He threw one to his brother and they both absorbed the power-ups. Their clothes changed as their shirts and caps were now white and their overalls transformed from blue to red and green, respectively. As the two opened their eyes, Fire Mario and Fire Luigi glared at Bowser and his son. "Ready for your asses to be burnt to a crisp?"

"Don't get too cocky, Mario. I'm running a busy schedule here and I've prepared to make sure getting rid of you two and your furry friends is my top priority. Then, I'll take Peach and she'll rule by my side forever! Bwahahaha!"

Luigi rolled his eyes and sighed. "Gee, I've never heard _that_ before," he replied with a hint of sarcasm. "What's next, take over Sarasaland and ask the minister to set up a tea party for your so-called reign?"

"Oh, shut up, Greenie. I wasn't talking to you."

 _"Figures. He doesn't acknowledge my name, AGAIN. Secondly, he just dismissed me like I'm not nonexistent. No surprise there,"_ he thought with disappointment.

Mario immediately defended his brother. "Hey! Lay off Luigi, Bowser! Besides, you just crashed his party and we didn't ask you to come ruin it."

Bowser gave an unamused look. "Does it like I care about that stupid excuse of a weakling you call your brother? Pfft! As if!"

Mario crossed his eyes as he shook his head. Luigi, on the other hand, stood there silently as his sadness converted into enragement.

Jr. reentered the confrontation. "Yeah, I don't even know why he's in this scene right now! He should back off before I lay my claws on him. Not like the wimp's gonna do anything about it."

And _that_ made Luigi snap. He narrowed his eyes and shot his signature death stare at Bowser Jr. **_(5)_** Preparing a green fireball in his hand, he growled fiercely. "You want to bet on that, you lousy, spoiled brat?!" In an instant, he chucked the flame right at the Koopa Clown Car which barely hit the Koopa kid inside.

"Hey! Watch where you're throwing that!"

"You just _now_ realized I threw it at you? Of course I did! Are you diagnosed with 'Dumbass Disease' or something? Now come at me if you wanna fight!"

"Grrr! Okay, now you're pushing my buttons!"

"You don't have any. Hell, you're only wearing your stupid mask and those spikeless wristbands," Mario joked.

Jr. knew that the red plumber was trying to peeve him. "Shut up! It's a figure of speech!" Growing impatient, he turned to his father. "Dad, are you gonna deal with this jerk or not?"

"Oh, I'm going to, Jr. With pleasure," Bowser grunted as he cracked his knuckles and sharp claws.

The brothers dressed in their Fire Flower outfits glared at their two opponents. The Koopa King and his son did the same thing towards their archenemies. The battles between Luigi vs Jr. alongside Mario vs. Bowser were about to commence. **_(6)_**

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _So the seven fighters we saw previously have claimed victory over all of the Koopalings. But what will become of Luigi and Mario in their fight against Bowser and his son? And what about the rest of the group with Peach, Daisy, and the others? Where are they now? Find out in Chapter 10!_

 _Wow, this is the longest chapter for this story: 3500+ words, not including author's notes! Again, I apologize for the long wait since I was busy with school and I struggled writing the fight scenes. I had to make sure everyone got a piece of the action. I still need to write more of this fanfic though… Ugh…_

 _Also, you can check out my other story,_ _New Brotherhood_ _, found on my profile. I've only written and uploaded two chapters and I still have more to go. However, that fanfiction won't be updated for a while. I want to continue writing more of this so I don't get too sidetracked._

 _Anyways, thanks for reading as usual! Please review, follow/favorite the story, and I'll see you in the next one!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I organized the breakdown of who will be fighting who. Mario and Luigi were easy, but assigning Sonic, Tails and the others was slightly difficult because I wanted to pair each one with someone that's fitting for them. Then, I had to write the plot of their battles (which was the reason why I was late on uploading this chapter)._

 ** _(2):_** _This is the same technique Ludwig did in his fight against Mario in_ _NSMBU_ _ & __NSLU_ _. But I didn't want to recopy the same battles for the other Koopalings from those games, so I had to be creative in some way, even if I recycled some of their old moves._

 ** _(3):_** _It's part of the infamous quote Silver says in_ _Sonic the Hedgehog_ _(_ _Sonic '06_ _). And no, I'm not proud of it, yet I decided to use it._

 ** _(4):_** _This is referencing Mario and Yoshi's journey in_ _Super Mario World_ _._

 ** _(5):_** _Throwback to the meme that grew from_ _Mario Kart 8_ _: the Luigi Death Stare. And that's why Luigi is one of my mains in the MK series._

 ** _(6):_** _Cliffhanger! I stopped the chapter right there for a certain reason, even though I showed each of the battles between the Koopalings and Mario's friends. We'll get to the two of them in the next one though._


	11. Ch 10: Invading and Kidnapping

_A/N:_ _So here's the next update. I've also decided that instead of uploading every few days, I'm gonna try to update weekly, specifically every Monday, since I have schoolwork and tests to study for over the next couple of weeks. That way, I can spend the rest of the week to keep writing more chapters. If I miss my deadline, expect an update the following day or so. If not, it's because I'm busy with college and I'll have to upload the week after that (lame excuse, but that's the way it goes). Thanks for being patient, and I hope you understand!_

 _Second note: Thanks for 900+ views on this story! It's been almost two months since I started writing this fanfiction and I'm glad it's earning some recognition. The only thing I would like is more reviews though. So please leave feedback after reading the chapter so I can either re-edit any mistakes, or get your opinions on what you think of the story so far. :)_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Still don't own anything but the plot._

* * *

 **Chapter 10:** Invading and Kidnapping

As the brave heroes were outside fighting against Bowser and his troops, the rest of the gang were running through the halls of the castle. Peach guided the gang as the Chaotix were running in front of her. Just in case they encountered danger, the three would be there as bodyguards.

"The West Wing is large to find a hiding spot. It's also where my bedroom is. But if someone comes through my window, then we could be in trouble," the princess in pink explained.

"How about the attic?" Daisy suggested, running beside her friend. "I'm sure those jerks won't reach the top that easily. And the windows should be secure."

"If it's safe, then we'll head there. We don't want you guys to be caught knowing how dangerous Bowser is," said Vector.

"Which way is it?' Espio asked for confirmation.

"Down this hallway, and to the left," Peach replied.

Rouge and Blaze were supervising from behind as Cream, Orbot, and Cubot sprinted ahead. In front of them were Toad, Toadette, and Toadsworth. At one point, the red-dotted and the pink-pigtailed guardians had to help support the brown-dotted elder who gasped of exhaustion.

"Eh, don't mind me. I used to… be a good runner… back in the day. I'm too old for this… repetitive danger," Toadsworth huffed.

"Well we're here for you. We're not gonna leave you behind! You're too fragile to be hurt and we have to keep you safe with the princesses," Toadette assured him.

"How much further until we get to the attic?" Blaze called from behind.

"Almost there! It's to the left up ahead!" Daisy pointed down the hall, signaling where they needed to run.

"I can't believe this party went from 100 to 0 all because of that ugly beast and his annoying pests he calls his children," Rouge complained.

Hearing the bat's comment made Charmy whiny. "And I was just about to devour that cake! It looked so delicious. And now it's just sitting there, waiting to be eaten!"

"Now's not the time to be thinking of that, Charmy!" Vector argued. "We have to get everyone to hide before something bad happens."

"I just hope Mr. Mario and Mr. Sonic can take care of the fight by themselves," prayed Cream. "Did you see all of those airships?"

"Chao, Chao!" Cheese replied with worry.

Blaze assured her friend. "I've seen Sonic take care of Eggman and other dangers before, so he and the others should be fine."

"And Mario was always there to help me. Luigi and Yoshi, too. I believe in them. I always do," Peach boldly pointed out.

"As much as I have confidence in Luigi, I can't help but worry for him. What if he gets hurt? I don't want his birthday to end on a horrible note." Daisy knew that Luigi isn't the strongest or the bravest of the bunch. But his kind personality and smile was the reason the flower princess admired him. His charm warmed her heart whenever she was with the man in green. Yet, Daisy had her doubts as she was scared that her significant other could get injured or even worse.

Espio broke up her silent thoughts. "Well isn't already on a horrible note? I mean, it's not Eggman, but Bowser is just as bad. The party's been disrupted and the guys are fighting down there. But can the rest of the day get any worse?"

He finished his inquiry as soon as the gang rounded the corner. But at the same time, they all heard a response to the chameleon's thought. "I believe I can answer that."

Vector put a stop to his feet. Unfortunately, that caused a collision as Espio ran into him, followed by Peach, Daisy, Cream, Cheese, the trio of Toads, the robots, Blaze, and finally Rouge. The group fell into a jumbled cluster as Charmy just stopped in midair. Thankfully for the bee, he wasn't toppled from the pileup.

They all looked up in surprise. But it was Orbot and Cubot who reacted to the individual in front of them, standing with an evil grin on his face.

"OH NO! It's him!" they screamed simultaneously.

* * *

Previously, Silver, Shadow, Yoshi, Amy, Knuckles, Tails, and Sonic all took down the seven Koopalings from their airships. After that, they chased down the remaining members of the Koopa Troop whom invaded Toad Town. Most of them were defeated while the minority retreated back to Bowser's base, including the seven Koopa kids. Now, the heroes were settling on the bridge in front of Peach's Castle as they anxiously waited for their friends, Mario and Luigi, to defeat Bowser and his son.

"I sure hope they don't get too roughed up there," Silver pondered.

"Don't worry, Silver! I've seen these two have some stellar moves back in the Smash Tournaments! Mario's improved on his grabbing and punching skills, and Luigi pulls off a mean Green Missile. If he's lucky, he could win this fight by doing absolutely nothing!" **_(1)_**

"But he's nowhere as competent like you, nor like me. I am the Ultimate Life Form, and I can easily beat his ass any day of the week." Shadow bragged as Tails shook his head.

"Okay, Mr. Egotist. You don't need to act like a showoff if you're already one."

The black hedgehog glanced at the fox for his remark. _"He must be acting like this to me since the phone call this morning,"_ he thought.

"Yeah, you know why I said that," he further commented.

 _"Is this kid psychic or something?"_

Yoshi, Knuckles, and Amy didn't bother to pay attention to the other guys as their eyes were glued to the scene on Bowser's airship. They barely caught a glance of some ugly figures from above, both of them showing off red and green. Oh, and then there's the Mario Bros., of course. **_(2)_**

"Come on, guys. I know you can do it." pleaded the green dinosaur. His stomach growled afterwards. "Aw man, I'm hungry. I wish I had some of that birthday cake."

"It amazes me how hungry you can be all the time and you still look like strong and healthy," Knuckles said as he turned to him.

Amy patted his large nose for assurance. "Don't worry, Yoshi. I'm sure the two of them can take those guys down easily. Right, Sonic?"

"Definitely!" the blue hedgehog replied with a large smile and a thumbs-up pose. "With the two of them together, they're unstoppable. Just like me and Tails!" he finished as he put his arm over his friend's shoulder and pulled him in.

"Heh, yeah! I, too, am confident that they'll be fine."

Luigi and Mario both stood in their Fire Flower clothing as they prepared fireballs in their grasps. Bowser took a fighting stance as he evilly glared at the guys who stopped him countless times in the past, but he wasn't going to stop after every defeat he suffered from. Jr. was still inside his Clown Car floating above the three of them, but (obviously) he was on his dad's side.

Luigi looked at Bowser Jr with anger. The young Koopa shot a gaze back at him.

Mario glared at Bowser. The Koopa King returned the glance.

It was as if they were waiting for a gong to be struck to begin the fight. Ironically, there was a Hammer Bro standing next to one on the side of the ship while clutching his trusty steel mallet. Using said tool, he crossed his arm in front of his body and whipped it back to vibrate the metal disk.

* **BONG** *

Mario made the first move and ran up to Bowser. With the red flame in his hand, he chucked the fiery object to the antagonist. Bowser leaped to the side and counterattacked with his flame. The brothers dodged his attack and split themselves up. Luigi pursued Jr. while Mario focused on Bowser.

Luigi took off for the little tyke who flew towards the bow of the ship. With a green fireball prepared in the palm of his right hand, he went on a spamming spree, tossing flames left and right, up and down, in all directions towards the Koopa Clown Car. Jr. navigated the flying contraption evading most of the attacks while he ended up getting hit by two of them.

"OWWW!" Jr. flinched from one of the fireballs. He shook his hand from the burnt impact. "If you think your fire is superior, I dare you to have a taste of my own." With that statement, he breathed in deeply and spewed out three separate fireballs. Luckily for Luigi, they all spread apart and hovered slowly in the air, making it easy for the man in green to dodge them.

"You're killing me, smalls. **_(3)_** Is this all you're gonna do to fight me?" he taunted sarcastically.

"This is just the beginning, Greenie! You're gonna get what you deserve!" Jr. responded irreverently.

 _"It's like almost everyone doesn't know my name. Then again, should I be surprised?"_ he pondered.

While Fire Luigi was in his thoughts for a second, Jr. answered back with the Bob-ombs that were in his helicopter cart.

"Have a taste of fiery explosions!" he yelled as he threw the detonating object.

Being the skilled jumper he was, Luigi hopped over the bomb and missed the explosion range. He continued to dodge whenever Jr. threw more from above. Yet one by one, the excelled jumper evaded every Bob-omb to the point where the Koopa kid ran out.

"Dang it! Why won't you get hurt?"

"Either I'm good at dodging or you have horrible aim. And we all know the first side isn't entirely true, I must admit, so you must be a terrible thrower!"

"Grrr! That's the last straw! I'm coming for ya!" Jr. cried with fury.

Next thing Luigi knew was that Jr. propelled with a nosedive and headed straight towards him. Unfortunately, the Koopa Clown Car was wide open without its glass dome making Jr. vulnerable. Due to this, the plumber crouched down and timed his leap. With a large hop, Luigi crushed his right boot onto his enemy's noggin and spread his arms as he made contact. He followed his attack with an acrobatic front flip and landed flawlessly on the wooden floorboards.

Jr., on the other end of the stick, suffered from the blow and fell out of his flying vehicle.

"Man, all those fights with my dreamy self helped me with timed jumps!" Luigi exclaimed. **_(4)_**

"Ehh, screw the Clown Car. I'll take you on myself!" Jr. charged towards the green man as they began a more physical fight, dodging punches, and spewing fire at each other.

Meanwhile, Mario and Bowser were going through the same battle scene they usually had: throwing fists of fury, emitting fire, and jumping at each other to try to pounce their opponent. After ten gruesome minutes, neither of them had the upper hand. They stood on the airship as the two glared at one another, panting from exhaustion after the duration of their brawl.

Since the very first adventure when the Koopa King transformed the Mushroom Kingdom's residents into rocks, bricks, and horsetail plants and held Princess Toadstool captive in his fortress, Mario had been the primary protagonist to save the kingdom and help rescue the pink-dressed ruler so she could reverse Bowser's spell. **_(5)_** Since the fall of the Koopa King, the two have been archenemies for who knows how long. However, some of Mario's quests would force him to work together with the evil beast, much to their disdain. **_(6)_** Regardless, they loathed each other with a passion.

After catching most of his breath, Bowser muttered to his foe. "So Mario, are you ready for part two where I get to finally destroy you?"

Mario shook his head, trying to maintain his stamina. "I'm only ready to grab that tail of yours and toss you out of here," he pointed. **_(7)_**

"I got my eyes on you, plumber boy. And when your ass gets kicked, I'm gonna roast your animal buddies and kidnap Peach so she'll be with me forever."

"Leave the princess and my friends out of this. Besides, she wasn't yours to begin with."

"This is for a different reason. But I would say the same to you."

"You're a selfish prick, you know that?"

"And you're nothing but a damn annoyance, like a thorn splinter stuck in my knee."

"More like getting a boot up your fat ass."

"Hey, I'm not fat! I got a large shell. And that's coming from the guy with a stomach bulge!"

"Well at least I exercise daily by running!"

"And I always train myself and my kids by lifting weights and fighting them. Try to 1-Up that!"

"Maybe you better shut your trap before I go full nelson on ya!"

Luigi was standing on the stern on the ship as he dodged another fireball from Jr. He took a glance at the two before getting frustrated. "I suggest you both shut up and start fighting! Mario, why the hell are you still standing there throwing insults when you should be taking him down?" he yelled as he spammed another green fireball at Jr.

"I will, Luigi! Just let me- AAAAHHHH!" Unfortunately, Mario couldn't finish his sentence. When he responded to his brother, Bowser took advantage of the opportunity and clawed through his overalls, leaving a major gash in his chest. With the pain stinging in his body and blood seeping through his clothing, Mario hissed in pain as he covered the injury with his gloved hand. "Ow! Damn it!" The injury wasn't undetected as Luigi glimpsed at his older sibling in trouble.

Then, neither Mario nor Luigi didn't see what was coming next. As soon as he looked up, still covering his slashed stomach, the red plumber's eyes widened as a large, yellow fist came flying towards him.

"URRGH!" Bowser punched Mario so hard that he flew backwards to the edge of the ship! His Fire Flower powers immediately disintegrated as his clothes returned to their normal colors. However, Mario barely managed to grasp the side of the ship, yet he was holding on for dear life. "Whoa!"

"MARIO!" Luigi cried. He dodged another fireball from Jr., but he couldn't keep his eyes off his brother as he started to get anxious.

From the castle bridge, Yoshi became aware of his friend's condition. "Guys, look! Mario's about to fall!" he yelled as he pointed up. The other guys looked to where Yoshi indicated and noticed that Mario was in trouble as he dangled from the flying ship.

"Oh no! We gotta help him fast!" Sonic panicked.

"But what can we do?" Amy wondered. "We already took down the other Koopas and destroyed their airships, so we can't use them to reach up there. Bowser is way too high!"

"Maybe I can fly up to Mario and help him escape," offered Tails.

"But what if you get caught in one of his attacks? You know how dangerous Bowser is. He's as corrupted as Eggman," Knuckles interjected.

"And we don't want to risk you getting hurt, Tails," advised Silver.

"I don't think I have a choice, guys. Mario's in danger and if you guys can't reach the airship, then I have to try."

"If that's what he wants, then let him do it," Shadow mumbled as he continued to watch Mario struggle. "Frankly, he _does_ need help."

"Since when did you care about Mario, Shads?" Sonic chuckled as he elbowed the black-furred hedgehog.

"Hey, watch it!"

"I'm just saying, Shads. You never seem to feel, or even act sympathetic towards others," he added with a smirk.

"Would you stop calling me that, _faker_?! How would you like it if I kept saying that to you?"

"Ehh, it's better than being frequently called a rat by Egghead," Sonic said as he shrugged his shoulders.

Shadow muttered under his breath. "Whatever, asshat rat…"

The blue hedgehog raised an eyebrow. "You wanna say that again?"

"I said, whatever, ass-"

"YOU WANNA FREAKIN' GO?!" Sonic let out with an ear-splitting voice.

"Guys, enough! Do I need to pull my hammer out for you two to stop bickering?" threatened Amy.

"Amy, calm down!" Knuckles tried to interfere to hold Amy back, but ended up putting the pink creature on edge. In turn, she slapped her hand upward. However, Knuckles ducked with his quick reflexes and Silver ended get whacked in the nose.

"Owww! What the hell, Amy?" he remarked.

"Don't blame me! Knuckles got out of the way!"

"What does that have to with this?" grumbled the red echidna. The five of them continued their quarreling much to the dismay of the other two, Yoshi and Tails, who were _actually_ focusing on the main problem.

The friendly dinosaur rolled his eyes as he watched his Mobian friends argue. He looked over at the two-tailed fox who had the same expression on his face. "You sure you can handle, Tails?" he asked with worriment.

"Believe me, I'm a little nervous. But don't worry, Yoshi. I'll try to get him out of there as fast as possible." With that, Tails spun his appendages and hovered up to the airship.

Yoshi looked back at the gang who were still in their predicament. He shook his head with discontent. Like Luigi, Yoshi abhorred fighting, especially when it's between his friends.

Tails flew towards the floating ship, but kept his height at a low level so he didn't get spotted by Bowser or his son. He barely saw Luigi, still in his Fire Flower outfit, throwing more green flames at Jr. while the little brat sped up charging towards his friend. But for now, his main concern was helping Mario in case he accidentally slips off. But as he approached the plumber, he heard a loud roar coming from the Koopa King.

Tails gasped. "Oh no! I gotta hurry!" The yellow kitsune spun his tails faster and managed to be within two feet of him. "Mario!" The red plumber looked to his right to see Tails flying toward him. "I'm gonna get you down safely."

"Oh, Tails! Thank goodness you're here!"

Tails extended his arms out to Mario's available arm. But suddenly, Tails yelled in pain when his right hand got burnt. "AAAAHHH!" he wailed.

Mario's eyes widened when he saw his friend got hurt. It got even worse when he saw the fox get caught in the hands of his enemy. He looked up angrily to see Bowser grasping Tails in his large fist as he dangled from the starboard edge. He grimaced when the villain snorted from his nostrils.

"Let him go, Bowser!" he demanded.

"No way. This little freak of yours tried to help you escape before I had a chance to get rid of you! If he doesn't want to suffer more third-degree burns, he better not interfere with me!" Tails started to cry when he heard the speech from the malevolent Koopa. "Now get off before I have to make you let go."

Mario was hoping for a miracle to help him in this dire situation. Tails was stuck in the king's grip as he struggled to stop the tears from flowing. Luigi was still occupied fighting Jr. and was praying he could stop Bowser soon. He was helpless as he clutched the bleeding chest while still hanging onto the airship with his left hand. At this point, it seemed like Mario and his friends was doomed and could only hope the rest of his friends, and his special one, to remain safe.

The Koopa King was impatient to the point where he was going to desperate measures to dispose Mario. Then, out of nowhere, a disturbing force interfered with Bowser's plan.

"Hrrgh? What the? What's happening?" Bowser felt a strange aura around his body before he received an electric shock to his body. "AAARRRRRGGGH!" he bellowed which caused him to let go of Tails. Bowser went down on his knees and claws as the electric jolt ran through his nervous system.

After landing on the deck, Tails ran over to Mario and helped him climb back up. He caught a glimpse of Mario's bleeding chest.

"Are you okay, Mario?" he asked hesitantly.

Mario felt like he was on the verge of fainting from his blood loss. However, he managed to express his gratitude to the fox. "Yeah, I am. Thanks for helping me, Tails. I didn't think I would stay hanging for any longer."

"No problem. But what just happened to Bowser? It seemed odd that he released me. Now he's on the ground," he mentioned as the two looked at the detained Koopa King.

"I don't know. I was wondering if you did since you're the smart one."

"I wish I had a clue."

As the two stood there with confusion, they heard Luigi, who was back in his regular green hat and shirt and blue overalls, running towards them. He managed to knock Bowser's son off the airship during the course of events.

"Guys! I finally got rid of Jr. and…" He paused when he noticed Bowser struggling on the floor. "Uh, what happened here?"

"That's the same question we thought," answered Mario.

"When you were busy fighting, I was caught his clutch until he groaned in pain and let me go," informed Tails. "Then I helped Mario up and now here you are."

Luigi was close enough to see the injury his older bro sustained. "Oh my god! Mario, are you okay?"

"Don't worry, Luigi. I'll be fine."

"We better get you to Dr. Toadley fast." He stopped for a few seconds and let his head down. "This is all my fault."

Tails was confused by Luigi's comment. "What do you mean it's your fault?"

"I distracted Mario which caused Bowser to lash him. If I didn't catch him off guard, he wouldn't have this injury."

"Luigi, don't blame yourself. I'm gonna be okay. Although, I do feel somewhat faint." Even though Mario tried to assure his little sibling, Luigi had guilt running through his veins. He continued to condemn himself on the inside, but tried to conceal his thoughts from the other two.

Then, all of a sudden, the three heard some familiar voices. Familiar _female_ voices.

"Mario!"

"Luigi! Help us!"

The brothers knew those sounds from anywhere. They came from none other than the princesses. They looked around to find the source.

"That sounded like Peach and Daisy!" exclaimed the yellow fox.

"Yeah, but where are they? Aren't they hiding in the castle?" the green-clad man wondered.

"They should be," Mario wheezed, trying to breathe normally.

Unexpectedly, the propellers on the tall masts got hit with an electric bolt and stopped spinning. The airship started to rumble causing the three heroes to lose their footing.

"G-g-guys! What's going o-o-on?!" shouted Tails.

"I-I-I don't know!" stammered Mario. Then the ship started to plunge towards the ground at a fast pace.

"We're descending! We're gonna crash!" Luigi called out.

"Hold on to the walls or something!"

"Never mind that, Mario! Guys, hang on tight!" Tails extended his arms for each brother to hold. Mario took his left hand while Luigi hesitantly clutched his right.

"You sure you can carry us out of here?" queried Luigi.

"No time for questions! We gotta jet!" The kitsune held on to the Mario Bros. tightly as he spun his tails and ascended from the surface of the falling aircraft. He carried with all his might and approached the bridge where their friends were. As for the airship, it crashed into the grass and left a large explosion that stunned the guys who stood in front of the castle. They were all shocked at the result.

"Well, I wasn't expecting that," proclaimed Knuckles.

"Tails! Mario! Luigi!" Sonic yelled. "Thank goodness you're safe."

Tails hovered slowly as the trio approached the ground, making sure the brothers have a soft landing. When it was safe, Luigi and Mario let go of his hands and fell onto the bridge securely. Then, the guys noticed Mario's recent injury.

"Oh no! What happened?!" Yoshi hollered when he saw his buddy hurt.

"Bowser got a piece of me during our fight," Mario replied. "But don't worry. I'll be okay."

"I sure hope so," worried Amy. "You look terrible!" Luigi grimaced at her response, still feeling bad about the incident.

"What happened to the ugly guy anyway? And that little twerp of his?" Silver asked.

"Well that's the weird part. When I tried to rescue Mario, Bowser burned me and-"

Sonic interrupted Tails' speech. "Whoa, whoa, whoa! He _burned_ you?! Are you okay?" he asked as his overprotectiveness got to him.

"Sonic, I'm fine! Let me finish though." Sonic nodded and let his friend continue. "As I was saying, he did burn my hand when I reached out to Mario. Then, he grabbed me and tried to push him off the ship. But before he could do that, he released me from his clutch for some weird reason. I helped Mario and Luigi took care of Jr. But then, the ship came crashing down as you saw before." He concluded his story by pointing to the remains of Bowser's dirigible.

"So where is that bastard now?" Shadow asked.

"Wait a minute," Luigi wondered and turned to Tails and Mario. "Wasn't he still on the ship? Did that mean he fell off from the crash? Or is he still there?" The two looked at each other as they didn't know how to answer his questions.

Then, Yoshi noticed something strange and caught everyone's attention. "Guys! Look up there!" As everyone looked in the direction he pointed, all of their eyes widened. Up above them was Bowser and his son, both unconscious, levitating in the air and trapped in a purple barricade.

"Okay! What the heck is going on here?" asked Silver, bewildered at the sight.

"I thought you guys took care of them," Amy spoke.

"We did, but we have nothing to do with _this_!" Luigi told the others.

"I'm terribly confused by all this," Sonic added.

It got even worse when the Mario, Luigi, and Tails heard the same voices from before. The rest of the group also heard the cries.

"Mario! Luigi! Help us!"

Everyone looked up and were instantly shocked. Hovering above them was Princess Peach, standing inside a separate purple barrier. Along with the Mushroom princess were Daisy, Cream, Cheese, Blaze, Rouge, the Toads, the robots, and the Chaotix. Their prison drifted next to Bowser's.

"Peach!" Mario yelled.

"Daisy!" Luigi shouted.

"Blaze!" Silver called.

"Rouge!" Knuckles added.

"Cream!" Tails howled.

"And there's everyone else! What's going on?" Yoshi thought.

Later, out of nowhere, a figure appeared from the top of the castle and floated towards the captured victims. The heroes glanced at the figure and noticed him. He had a purple face, a large black cloak, and a magical staff in his hand.

Shadow widened his eyes when he saw the two Chaos Emeralds in his scepter. Immediately, he blurted out. "It's you!"

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _The battle between the Mario Bros. vs. Bowser and Jr. ended with an awkward note. But now, the heroes have encountered the dark figure for the first time (with the exception of Shadow) and he kidnapped their friends! Can Mario, Luigi, and the others save them?_ _And what will become of Bowser and his son now that they're caught?_ _Stay tuned for the next chapter!_

 _***Even without author's notes,_ _ **this**_ _is the longest chapter I've written (so far)! With author's notes, it's over 5000 words!_

 _Please review, PM if you want, follow/favorite the story if you haven't already, and I'll see you guys later!_

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 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _You should know about this meme: 'Luigi Wins by Doing Absolutely Nothing.' KlydeStorm uploaded a video on YouTube of Luigi playing minigames in_ _Mario Party 2_ _by literally doing nothing (hence the title). This trend continued in other Mario Party games, and even in_ _Smash Bros_ _._

 ** _(2):_** _I decided to use a joke where I was referring to the Mario Bros. when it's supposed to be was towards Jr. and Bowser._

 ** _(3):_** _A famous quote from '_ _The Sandlot'_ _, one of my favorite childhood movies!_

 ** _(4):_** _(SPOILERS!) I was referring to the Giant Dreamy Luigi fights in_ _Mario & Luigi: Dream Team_ _, for the 3DS. There were instances where Dreamy Luigi had to jump and dodge attacks from his enemies._

 ** _(5):_** _This goes back to old days of_ _Super Mario Bros._ _for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES). This described the story of the game._

 ** _(6):_** _Two games that Mario and Bowser reluctantly joined forces were in_ _Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars_ _for the SNES, and_ _Super Paper Mario_ _for the Wii. I would recommend both games if you haven't played either one or both! Try_ _SM: RPG_ _if you enjoy a genuine action-command fighting game like the first two games in the_ _Paper Mario_ _series. Try_ _SPM_ _for its hilarious dialogue and the deep, intriguing story it offers. Either or, they're some of my favorite Mario games!_

 _ **(7):** Super Mario 64_ _throwback! This is the strategy to defeating Bowser for all three of his fights in this game._


	12. Ch 11: The Epiphany

_A/N:_ _Another long chapter! Today, I'll be revealing the identity of the shadow figure. And our main character will be seeing some surprises that will 'shock' him._

 _And for those who didn't see the note in the last chapter, uploads for this story will be posted every Monday (unless I'm busy with college). Also, Hidden Bravery has reached over **1000 views**! Thank you guys so much!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Pretty obvious. I only own the plot, in addition to my OC who is the main antagonist of the story. Nintendo and Sega own their respective characters._

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 **Chapter 11:** The Epiphany

Luigi, Mario, Sonic, Tails, and the rest of the gang, who defeated the Koopalings, Jr., and Bowser moments ago, were standing on the bridge in front of Peach's Castle. They were in awe as they gaped at the evil figure who floated in between the enchanted bubbles which held their friends and their fallen foes. Shadow was the only one who recognized the villain while the other eight allies were curious.

"Mr. Mario! Mr. Sonic! Please help us!" begged Cream.

Her Chao partner, Cheese, also pleaded for assistance. "Chao, Chao Chao!"

"Hey! You better let them go, right now!" Sonic commanded.

"Who are you anyway?" asked Amy.

The purple-skinned entity looked down at the group in silence. After a few seconds, he finally spoke. "Shall I introduce myself? I am a Shadow Spirit known as Myster Edge. But please, call me Edge if you want."

"Well from the looks of it, you don't look like someone who would hold a title like 'Mister' or even 'Master'," Mario retorted.

"No, it's not 'Mister' with an 'i'. It's _MYSTER_ with a 'Y'!" the villain boomed. "It's supposed to be a play on the word 'mystery'!"

"I can come up with better puns than that. But does it look like we care?" Sonic questioned. "Because you don't look like a mystery at all."

"More like a poor fashion designer named José," criticized Silver.

"Will you imbeciles STOP mocking my name as well as my clothing?"

"Why are you holding them hostage?" asked Knuckles as pointed to the bubbles.

"When these guys ran into me, I had a feeling they had some more friends, and now here I am in front of you. For now, these individuals mean nothing to me. But it will be a matter of time until they become part of my plan," Edge answered sinisterly.

"Yeah, well I didn't sign up to be captured and listen to your ratty, little mouth," hissed the flower princess causing Edge to shoot a glare at her.

"Daisy, please calm down," Peach urged with a calm tone. "Now's not the time to lose control of your temper."

"Well, princess, if you haven't realized, we're stuck inside a barrier and we can't do anything about it. This thing is impenetrable," Rouge complained.

"I hate being stuck in confined places like this," muttered Blaze.

"I wanna go home!" Charmy cried as held onto Espio's shoulder.

"Will you knock it off?" the purple chameleon shushed him.

"I really wish we this bubble was bigger. I think my claustrophobia is kicking in…" Toad whined.

"And this situation is very unhealthy for Toadsworth's being," Toadette sighed.

"Oh, don't fret about me. I'm more worried about the princess," the elder Toad replied.

"Please, Toadsworth. This isn't a good time to think about just me," Peach persisted.

"Overall, we're all stuck in this stupid barrier. But can you let us out?! Or do I whip some sense out of you with these chains?" Vector threatened, holding his gold chain necklace.

Tails turned his attention to the villain's scepter which contained the red and white Chaos Emeralds. He widened his eyes as he looked at the black hedgehog. "Shadow, is that the guy you talked about earlier?"

"Yes, he has the Chaos Emeralds that Eggman originally held, according to Orbot and Cubot."

"Now if only we could get out of here this impermeable prison," the red orb-shaped android responded.

"And if only we could find our boss. I'm actually worried about him," said the yellow cube-shaped bot.

"What exactly are you going to do with them?" Luigi asked directly to the purple shadow.

Edge looked at the man in green with an interested glance. He then turned to the one in red and compared the similarities: same clothing style with the matching colored hat and shirt, overalls, and shoes, thick mustaches under their large noses, and dazzling blue eyes. He gazed his attention back to Luigi.

"Well little fellow, I heard from your friends here that it's your birthday today. And I heard your party was crashed by this ridiculous beast," he pointed, referring to Bowser.

Luigi raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Uhh, yeah… What's your point?"

"Forgive me for interrupting your festivities even further, but I've heard some 'great things' about you," he apologized with a slight change in voice when he let out that particular phrase. "Now, allow me to give you a present, from yours truly."

Mario narrowed his eyes. "Where are you going with this?"

"And you hardly know him. Unless… he knows you," Tails hesitated, turning to Luigi.

"Don't look at me! I have no idea who he is!"

"Regardless, what do you mean by 'present'?" Sonic wanted this guy to get straight to the point. However, the Blue Blur would soon regret asking that.

"I'm so glad you asked." Raising his Chaos-powered staff, Edge hurled a large electric orb to the younger Mario brother. Without a chance to react, Luigi was instantly shocked by the strong impulse.

"EEEYAAAAAAH!" he screeched in agony. He fell on the bridge, barely losing consciousness.

"LUIGI!" Mario and Daisy both reacted. Everyone else went wide-eyed when the villain dared to hurt their friend.

Later, Myster Edge sent another attack. This time, he summoned a powerful shock wave that surprised the others. They all fell back several feet. Tails, Sonic, and Mario all landed in front of the large castle doors. Yoshi, Amy, Shadow, Silver, and Knuckles went flying into the grass and tumbled near the Mushroom Warp Pipe.

Luigi was also part of the impact, but his bad luck got the short end of the stick. He ended up falling into the moat that surrounded the exterior of Peach's Castle. But because he was barely sentient, he had little to no energy to even try to flail his arms and keep his head above water. Instead, his body sunk halfway deep. His face remained motionless, his eyes were still closed, and his lungs started to fill up drastically.

Mario managed to get up with all his might. He stumbled a little as he felt terrible now that he's in worse condition. His stomach and the front of his clothing was still covered with blood and he seemed to have hurt his left calf from the fall. Carefully watching his injured leg, Mario rushed over to the bridge's edge and peaked his head over to see Luigi's immobile body floating in the flooded trench. His first instinct was to jump into the water and carry his brother back to land; he would do anything to help Luigi, even if he had to risk his life and grieve from excruciation.

But before he could make his move, Edge directed another shock wave to him. "Don't interfere with me, pest!" After his warning, he came flying in his direction.

Mario barely leaped over it and landed awkwardly. As he turned to what was in front of him, he didn't have the time to react as he got whacked in the head with the villain's staff.

"WAAAH!" he yelled and landed on his back in front of Tails and Sonic who were on the ground, lingering from the first shock wave. The captives from above were frightened and concerned for the Mario Bros. and the rest of the team.

"No! Mario!" Peach cried when she witnessed Mario getting hurt even more. To say the princess was extremely worried was an understatement. Once she saw the blood seeping through his red shirt and blue overalls and his leg twitching, a tear escaped from her right eye.

For Daisy, the flower ruler was nervous that Luigi was stuck in the moat, continuously immobile as his face was unseen. She couldn't bear to realize at what her significant other went through: from having his birthday party being disrupted by Bowser, to receiving an unexpected jolt from some unknown figure, to possibly drowning while everyone, including herself, were helpless to rescue the man in green. Then, a thought popped in her head. Where was Colombo? The ghost dog didn't run with the others in the castle, and he never joined Luigi's side when he and the others fought Bowser and his troops. All of these thoughts put Daisy in an uncomfortable position.

Toad, Toadsworth, and Toadette were also on board as they feared about Luigi and Mario's predicaments. They were also apprehensive of Yoshi as he remained unconscious.

The Sonic team was also stressed out that Sonic and the other fighters were down. Cream and Cheese were scared for Tails and Amy the most. Blaze was anxious about Silver and Sonic. Rouge had negative thoughts about Shadow and Knuckles. Vector, Espio, and Charmy were worried about everyone in general. Orbot and Cubot were also sympathetic; they may be Eggman's loyal henchmen, but they couldn't help but feel terrible that Sonic was attacked, especially by someone they rarely know, someone who wasn't their leader.

Edge looked at the scene below him. He saw that Luigi was still underwater as a few bubbles made it up to the surface. Regardless, the birthday man was in peril. With his magical staff, he used the power to carry the drowning Mario brother from the moat. When Luigi finally had air to breathe, he choked as water came out from his mouth.

"Aack, ppbth! Huff, ugh! That was horrible!" he coughed irregularly.

"How dare you harm Luigi like that? You're gonna regret trying to hurt him in the first place. If I wasn't in this damn barrier…"

"SILENCE!" Daisy was interrupted by Edge's loud comment.

Luigi observed his surroundings and found out that he was floating in mid-air. "Hey! What am I doing up here?"

"Aah, Luigi. Such a fascinating name for an Italian plumber like you. A _very scared_ Italian plumber," he commented.

"W-Who are y-you? Really?" he cowered with fear.

"Your worst nightmare," snickered Edge.

Back at the bridge, Mario, Sonic, and Tails recomposed themselves, shaking their heads from the dizziness and pain they severed.

"Ugh, what the hell just happened?" Sonic asked drowsily.

"I… I don't know. Do you know, Mario?" Tails turned to the red-clad man.

"Ugh," he started, feeling the aches in his left leg. "I tried to help Luigi because he's still stuck in the water. But then that bastard randomly hit me with his magic rod or whatever it is."

"Wait, he's in the water?" the fox queried.

"Yeah, he is." Mario finally took in the situation, as if he mentally facepalmed himself. "Oh, shit! He's _still_ underwater!"

"But that doesn't make sense."

Mario gave the blue hedgehog a glance. "What do you mean?"

"If you said he's underwater, then how come I see him up _there_?!" Sonic pointed high causing Mario and Tails to look in his direction. The trio saw Luigi face-to-face with the purple-skinned figure.

"Luigi!" Mario exclaimed.

Luigi turned his back around to see his buddies back on their feet. "Mario!" he yelled back.

However, it was the wrong move. Edge pointed his scepter and gave Luigi another shock, this one being more powerful and agonizing than the first one.

"AAAAHHHHH! PLEASE! STOP!" Luigi's screams were loud enough to wake up Yoshi and the other fallen heroes of Team Sonic. With everyone in the middle of the scene, they all cringed as they saw the green hero endure the shocking torture.

Daisy started banging her fists on the barrier. "Stop! Why are you doing this to him?"

"Please! We want you to leave Luigi alone!" Peach begged.

"He didn't do anything wrong!" shouted Tails.

"Don't make me spin dash into your ugly face!" threatened Sonic.

More comments and pleading cries came from Luigi's friends telling the shadow entity to stop the suffering the green plumber was experiencing.

"Let my brother go!" demanded Mario.

"You want me to let him go? If you insist…" he responded with a bit of venom and an evil smirk on his face.

He pulled his staff away from Luigi's damaged body as the plumber was in more pain than his older brother. The screaming stopped, but his eyelids were halfway open as tears fell down to his red cheeks. His entire body felt numb; he couldn't feel his hands, arms, or legs. The force that kept him in the air was about to disappear which would cause Luigi to descend. But Edge didn't let him off easily. Rather than leaving him to free fall, he clutched the scepter with his two hands and slammed the orb into Luigi's face which made him plummet at an alarming pace.

"NOOO!" everyone screamed. They all had enlarged eyes as they witnessed the man in green accelerating towards the ground.

Luigi, who was about to pass out completely from all the injuries and shock waves that disabled him, had one thought in his mind.

 _"Am I… going to die… on a day like this? On my birthday?"_

As he closed his eyes, there were tears still streaming down his face as he approached what seemed to be his doom, his end, a game over.

 _"Mario… Daisy… Everyone…"_

His vision turned to black and everything around him felt obsolete. His entire body that he couldn't feel. Every person that he couldn't see. All sounds that he couldn't hear. Except for one last cry.

"LUIGIIIIIIIII!"

* * *

 _Location: ?_

It was dark. There was nothing there but pure blackness that was in this surreal, yet questionable area. There was someone lying supine on the ground who was a part of this darkness. But soon, the region shimmered and there was purple all around. Staggered rocks and shards glistened in the shadows. But where was this place?

The person finally opened his eyes and blinked. After he regained his vision, he rose the upper half of his body to convert into a sitting position with his legs extended outward and his knees unbent. He looked around to the view in front in him and to his sides. He observed the various purple shards that gleamed in the dark area.

 _"Where am I? What is this place?"_ he thought, stroking his chin with his right thumb.

As he got up on his feet, he heard a familiar noise. "Huh? W-Who's there?" he stuttered. The mystery man looked around, but there was no trace of another being or entity nearby. His hands clenched into fists as they shook in front of his torso. His shoulders shrugged inward, and his legs started to rattle. The expression on his face had his mouth slightly open as his teeth chattered, his eyebrows raised in a cowardly fashion, and his eyes bulged with fear.

He heard the same noise again; it was very recognizable to his ears. It sounded spooky, yet energetic.

"BARK! BARK!"

"Aah!"

The man turned 180 degrees to find a ghost dog. Actually, it was a Polterpup. _Luigi's Polterpup!_ _ **(1)**_

"Oh, Colombo! You're here!" he replied with relief.

The canine ran up to the man (confirmed to be Luigi) and tackled him to the ground. As he fell, he got licked in the face playfully and started to laugh.

"Hahaha, calm down, boy! I'm okay! It's good to see you again!"

The mustachioed plumber patted Colombo's head, causing the spectral dog to wag his tail happily. As he held his pet in his hands, he stopped momentarily. Colombo whimpered as a sign of wondering what his owner was thinking about.

"Colombo, where were you at the time the party was crashed?" he asked with concern. "You weren't with us when we fought Bowser. Didn't you hide with the others?"

The pooch tilted his head at first before he nodded softly.

"But if you were with Peach, Daisy, and the rest of our friends, then why weren't you captured with them?"

Colombo whimpered and nudged his head in Luigi's lap.

"Did you… turn invisible to hide yourself?"

He whined, but it was his way of saying 'yes'.

"Well, I'm glad that you're safe. But I can't help but worry about them. Not just Mario and Daisy, but everyone else, too. They're like family to me." He paused and realized something odd was going on. He happened to take in some of the information based on the questions he asked his dog. Some of his memory was coming back as a visual played in his mind.

He reminisced the moment when Bowser's Koopa Clan invaded Toad Town and tried to attack the castle to take Peach away that night. Mario, Sonic, and some of the other guys fought with him to defeat the Koopalings, Jr., and the Koopa King himself. (Surprisingly, they all managed to endure the fights despite it being dark outside. Luckily, the festive lights were bright enough for the heroes to combat.) Luigi also remembered the remaining members of the party who hid in the castle, or at least tried to before they got kidnapped… by Myster Edge.

Edge. The mysterious figure he saw. The one who attacked him on the bridge. The one who nearly drowned him, unintentionally. But he was also the one who shocked him thoroughly before he passed out and sent him to a plunge, above ground though.

Now, Luigi was looking at the current situation. He and Colombo were nowhere near Peach's Castle, nor were they in the Mushroom Kingdom it seemed like. They were sitting in a dim spot with blackness covering the sky and purple shards that shined on the ground. There was no sign of Mario. No sign of Peach or Daisy. No sign of Sonic or Tails. Not even a sign of Bowser. There was no one except around the lone pair. At this point, Luigi could only wonder where the hell they were anyway.

Then, Colombo felt a strange presence. He popped his head up and sniffed the air. The ghost barked twice before jumped from Luigi's lap and ran away.

"BARK! BARK!"

"Colombo! Wait! Where are you going?" Luigi rose to his feet and chased after his pet. He could barely see the paw prints be left from the energetic Polterpup before they started to fade away from the ground. Since he ran so fast, Luigi was falling behind to the point he was about to lose track of him. If only he had his Dark-Light Device from E. Gadd… **_(2)_** Nevertheless, he never lost sight of him Colombo, but he was about twenty feet ahead.

After a few minutes of running, Luigi finally reached Colombo only to see him all tensed up. The Polterpup leaned back as his eyelids lowered and his teeth were visible as he growled.

"Colombo? Calm down, boy. What's the matter?"

He got his answer when he looked up and a twinkling light floated down from the sky. As the light descended, Colombo growled louder than before. Luigi took a slight glance at the angered Polterpup before going back to the small glimmer. Then, the light grew and shined bright that it almost blinded the plumber. He squeezed his eyes shut as he used his right hand to cover the enlarging source. Once the light dimmed, he lowered his arm and saw a figure in front of him.

But it wasn't just an ordinary, random figure.

No, it was… Myster Edge.

The cloaked villain was amused at Luigi's facial expression; his eyes were widened, his mouth was agape, and his jaw was trembling.

"Hello there… Luigi…" he grinned.

Luigi hesitated when he spoke. "I-It's… y-y-you! W-What are you doing here?! Where are we?!"

"Listen well, plumber boy… We are in the heart of a dark labyrinth known as the Oblivion. As you can see, there are tons of shards everywhere," he explained raising his hand as a guide for Luigi to look around.

After Luigi observed the region, he turned back to Edge. "Okay... But what about my friends? Where are they? And why did you attack us back at the castle?"

"You're very persistent, you helpless little worm." Luigi was taken aback by the comment that it made him angry on the inside, but he couldn't overshadow the fear he expressed. Colombo, on the other hand, was irate at Edge for offending his master.

"BARK! Grrrr!" he growled in response.

Edge glanced at the red-collared Polterpup. Raising an eyebrow, he blurted out, "Hmm, what do we have here? Another ghost? Except this one's a canine?" The purple shadow slowly approached the duo which Colombo growl louder.

"If you think you're gonna try hurting my pet, then you are one sick asshole!"

Edge turned to Luigi, baffled that he apparently swore at him. "Odd," he simply said.

"What's odd?"

"I've heard much about you from your friends. How you are a professional ghost catcher. How you're generally a sympathetic person. Someone who is easily frightened. Someone who isn't belligerent or cold-tempered. But to hear you cuss like that, it seems… uncharacteristic of you."

"How old do you think I am, six? I'm not a fucking child you know," Luigi muttered.

"But you weren't born yesterday, considering you were celebrating your pathetic birthday today."

"Shut up! Now tell me! Why did you hurt me and everyone else? What happened to my friends?" he repeated crossly.

"Fine. If you're _so_ interested with what's going on, I'll tell you." Edge floated away from Luigi and Colombo to be distant from the tension. "As I said before, we are in a zone called the Oblivion. But technically, you're in a dream."

"W-What? What do you mean… a dream?"

"This is what you're imagining in your slumber. This dark place, my presence, even that ghost pup of yours."

Luigi looked down at Polterpup who shot a confused look at him. _"So this isn't the real me? This isn't real life?"_ Luigi thought, thinking he could be in the mind of his dreamy self. He tried to take this information in, but it started to give him a headache.

It was when he tried to pet him that indicated that Colombo wasn't with him. Technically, he's a ghost, so it seemed normal if Luigi were to reach his hand through his transparent body (albeit that sounds weird). But he'd always 'pet' him by rubbing his stomach and head and nothing can go through his body, even though he can walk through walls. So when Luigi reached for his ghost dog, his hand _went through him_! Taken back by the discovery, Colombo started glitching as if his body waved around like a hologram. And before he knew it, the Polterpup disappeared.

Luigi gasped. "Colombo! Why is this happening?" he asked, looking up to Edge.

"What you are seeing is an interpretation of what is imminent. The Oblivion may not be real in your mind. But it will come to life very soon. This is the future for me, you, and everyone you know and love. Including that fat brother of yours."

Luigi had enough his insults. "Don't you DARE talk about my older brother like that."

"Well, 'Mr. Young Mario Brother', he happened to be the same guy who got captured by that humongous ghost king; not once, but twice, and you had to rescue him from a painting both times. He's also the same guy who left you hanging at the house when he left with his princess lover and her subjects on a tropical vacation. He was the one to leave you behind as a shadow, like a nonexistent, worthless being. He-"

"ENOUGH!" he bellowed with fury. Luigi never felt this enraged before. First, the figure was talking smack about Mario. Then, he ridiculed him for making his little bro feel isolated and depressed. He characterized the red-clothed Italian to make him look like he was the worst older sibling out of any family, like he didn't care about the green-clothed man. Luigi had a teardrop falling from his right eye.

After letting Luigi regain his composure, he talked again. "Besides, he's not going to be that important. _You_ are."

"M-Me? Why me?"

"Because you're gonna be the reason why my plan will be complete."

"What plan?"

He pulled out his magical staff and pointed to the orb. "You see these valuable objects?"

Luigi's eyes bulged wide. "Th-Those are Chaos Emeralds! Wait a minute, you used their power to attack us! And you used it to shock me! Is that why I'm here? I'm unconscious because of you, and I'm seeing you as some sort of hologram?"

"Think of it as telepathy. Anyways, I have two of them and my minions are searching for the rest of them back in that blue rat's world. But as they were searching for them, I needed to take care of some business in your pretty mushroom world."

"What kind of business?" he lowered his voice with a hint of curiosity.

"Remember that vision of that dog of yours?"

"Colombo? Yeah. I mean, as long as he's okay, then that's fine knowing that he's back in the real world."

"I find it strange, because I thought he would be possessed, even if he was a hologram."

"Possessed? What makes you say that? He's a ghost. He can't possibly be controlled by some evil spirit."

"Oh, you are so innocent, mustachioed one. He _should have_ been possessed. Not by an evil entity. But by a different reason. He should have acted hostile or at least mischievous. Yet for some reason, he wasn't like the others."

"The others?" Luigi paused to think of what Myster Edge was referring to. "The ghosts in Evershade Valley… But, the only way they would act aggressive or cheeky…" Then, it all clicked together. "THE DARK MOON!" The green-hatted plumber glared at the purple villain. "YOU broke the Dark Moon?!"

Edge smirked. "Now you've figured it out."

"But why did you do that? To all those poor ghosts? And what do you need the Chaos Emeralds for?"

"I'll be utilizing both sets of these powerful artifacts for my personal gain. When I get my hands on the Emeralds, they will be my power source. As for the Dark Moon pieces, they will be vital to what you see here. But I think you can figure that on your own. And as for the ghosts, they will be under my bidding, just like the robots in the other world."

Luigi somewhat understood Edge's scheme. He knew his intentions were to find and retrieve collect the remaining five Chaos Emeralds since the red and white ones were in his possession. But he thought it seemed fuzzy on why he needed the Dark Moon to be destroyed and how they tie in with the gems from Sonic's world. And he expected the celestial body to be broken into six separate fragments, just like what happened the first instance when King Boo shattered it.

"You're not going to get away with this, you evil, twisted bastard!" Luigi leered.

"That's what you think. And to reiterate, you will be the one that will make my plan work. To destroy all worlds…"

Luigi was getting a sense of déjà vu, making him mentally groan. He and Mario had to deal with 'the end of all worlds' cliché too many times in the past. But the fact that the antagonist is referring to him to be part of the evil plot gave him uncomfortable flashbacks. He reminisced the time when Nastasia brainwashed him back in Castle Bleck to transform into Mr. L and was considered 'the man in green' that was indicated in both books of the Prognosticus, the Light and the Dark, to be the one who determined the fate of all worlds and dimensions. **_(3)_** Now, he was told that he was a vital piece to Edge's master plan, which made him visibly upset.

"I know you have collected the Dark Moon pieces back on that ghost quest with your nutty professor friend. But don't even bother looking for them a second time if you hate fighting ghosts. And if you and your friends try to search for the Chaos Emeralds, then I won't hold back the consequences you will suffer. Basically, if you try to be the hero, you'll never live up to that title. You're nothing but a pushover. A pacifist. A loser," he scolded.

Luigi ran another tear down his face from his harsh speech. He thought solemnly to himself about the dilemma. _"I'll have to capture those poor ghosts again. And they'll be as reckless like before, or even worse. As for the Dark Moon, they must be held by those Possessor Ghosts again. But who knows where they are hiding. And the Chaos Emeralds, Sonic and Shadow each have one. He has two. So, there's three left in their world. But… am I even worth it to restore everything back to normal? Or is this strictly for Mario and Sonic to deal with? Am I really just a pathetic human being?"_ The green-clad man was conflicted.

Edge looked at Luigi one last time. "Well then, there's no time to waste. Your real form will be awake very soon. But when you do wake up, just know that you'll do nothing to stop me. Not even your friends as well."

With that, he clutched his large scepter as an ominous aura glowed from the Chaos-powered orb. Immediately, he whipped the weapon towards Luigi as another light blinded him.

"AAAHHHH!"

The brightness flowed throughout the imaginary vision of the Oblivion. Luigi's eyesight then faded from white to black in a matter of seconds. There was complete silence. Not a sound could be heard.

But then, a name was called, followed by a whimper. There were some distinct phrases heard nearby. They all came from some familiar voices.

 _"Luigi… Luigi…"_

 _"Please…wake up… We need you…"_

 _"Bro… are you okay?"_

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Talk about a horrible way to end someone's birthday. And this dream Luigi had made him realize of the events that spiraled to where he is right now. But where exactly is he since we got a view of Luigi in the epiphany while meeting the villain?_

 _Also, I hope you guys like the name 'Myster Edge'. I described his appearance back in Chapter 2, but I didn't know what to name him at that time. While I was writing this chapter, it just popped in my head and I stuck to it._

 _So now, we know about most of the antagonist's scheme, and Luigi is stuck in the middle of it. Where will this story go next? Stay tuned for Chapter 12._

 _Thanks for reading! Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys next time!_

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 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Frankly, I forgot to add Colombo to the scene where Bowser invaded Peach's Castle and from there, I didn't know what role to give him. I tried to make up the fact that he went invisible (because he's a ghost) throughout the course of Chapters 8-10. If you were wondering what happened to Luigi's Polterpup, then there you go. Hopefully this clarifies everything._

 ** _(2):_** _The Dark-Light Device is an accessory attachment to Luigi's flashlight in_ _Dark Moon_ _. This fixture shines a rainbow-colored light that uncovers invisible objects and pathways that the Boos have hidden throughout the mansions. It could also be helpful to find the runaway Polterpup(s) in the Dark Moon Quest and the ScareScraper mode._

 ** _(3):_** _(SPOILERS!) In_ _Super Paper Mario_ _,_ _Luigi was one of the key figures, referenced in the books of prophecies (Light and Dark). Count Bleck mentioned that 't_ _hough the_ _man in red_ _shall wield formidable powers, one shall stand against him. The_ _man in green_ _shall use the_ _Chaos Heart'_ _s power to bring darkness to all.' This indicated that Luigi was the perfect host for the Chaos Heart for the Void to consume all worlds._ _In the Light Prognosticus, Merlon explained to the 'legendary hero', Mario, that he was the one to stop the Dark Prognosticus from becoming true, yet the 'man in green', Luigi, was the one to determine which prophecy will overpower the other._


	13. Ch 12: Wait and Pray

_A/N:_ _Shorter chapter for today. This is what happened after the night of the invasion._

 _Also, I made some changes to the dialogue, and fixed some grammar errors in the previous chapter. Again, it's nothing too major._

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _After disregarding some of Mario & Tails' injuries and how Colombo reunited with Mario and the others, this chapter has been re-edited to avoid any discrepancies._**

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 _Disclaimer:_ _Nintendo and Sega own the Mario and Sonic characters/IP's, etc. I only own the plot of the story and my OC, Myster Edge._

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 **Chapter 12:** Wait and Pray

 _Location: Toadley Clinic_ _ **(1)**_

Room 206, located on the second floor of the building. If someone walked inside, they'd find two hospital beds. One laid directly across from the entrance; the second was on the other side of the room next to a large window that had a view of Toad Town, or what was left of it since the Koopa Troop destroyed and invaded the properties. The two beds were separated by three feet and there was a tableside dresser between them that leaned against the back wall. The one closer to the room's door was empty; the one near the glass pane had an individual lying under the covers.

In the bed was a patient who wore a pair of dark blue scrub bottoms that went down to the top of his feet. On each side of the bed were some IV stands that transferred blood and various fluids to the patient's arms. The man didn't have a shirt on, but there were white, stretchable bandages that protected the lower half of his trunk and back. There were more wrapped around his bare hands and wrists, arms, legs, and shins. A heart monitor was hooked up to the patient's naked chest while the machine tracked the cardiac rhythm. Gratefully, the device beeped steadily. It was neither slow nor fast. The patient's heartbeat pounded at a regular rate. The only article clothing he still had (that he owned) was the green cap with a large 'L', covering his brown hair.

Yes, the patient being taken care of, was Luigi.

It was now 6:50 a.m., the morning after Luigi's birthday and after all the tragedies that occurred the previous night. The yellow sun started to peek over the green-hilled valleys. Light shined past the window curtains, but it didn't seem to disturb Luigi who was still asleep.

Across from his bed was a couch that could fit two people, lodged in the corner with a set of chairs next to it. All the spots were occupied by none other than his friends.

Sitting in the sofa near the window was Sonic the Hedgehog. He had two fingers rubbing his right temple as his emerald eyes cautiously darted back and forth between Luigi, his companions, and the sunrise outside.

Beside him was Tails who was sedentary between his older brother and the mustachioed hero in red. His twin appendages waved behind his back in a slow motion as his eyes gazed at the ground. He placed his left hand on his face while his elbow rested on his knee. His right hand stood still on the other kneecap as it was covered in bandages since he received third-degree burns from Bowser.

Next to the kitsune was Mario who sat in the wooden chair as his right hand held his bandaged chest. He occasionally rubbed his tired eyes which formed black bags and were easily visible to everyone. His left hand was scratching the figure lying on the remaining seat. There laid Colombo, Luigi's Polterpup, who was in the comfort of the red-hatted plumber. They both stared at the unconscious younger brother with uneasiness.

Beforehand, it was midnight when Mario sat with Sonic, Tails, and Colombo in a separate hospital room. Then, Doctor Toadley, the caretaker of the hospital and the brothers' personal consultant, and his staff tended to his injured torso (since he suffered those scratches from Bowser) while the fox received some support for his burnt hand. Instead of wearing his red shirt and blue overalls, he wore a white, sleeveless hospital gown. From the back, one could barely see the white bandages that wrapped around his body, even though they were used to heal his slashed abdomen. Furthermore, he had an ice pack tied under his left leg to heal his pulled calf muscle and was given pills to treat the blow he received from the shadow figure. Tails had some healing cream applied to his right hand and was offered a new glove as the doctors discarded the burnt one. He was also given an ice pack to cool down the pain.

As for Sonic, he was the only one who didn't have any noticeable injuries, so he waited patiently. However, he felt uneasy because of his hatred for hospitals. Luckily, the worst he had was a pill to get rid of a headache he received from Edge's shock waves. Unfortunately, his friends had it worse from last night's ambush.

Colombo, on the other hand, avoided getting injured or attacked by Myster Edge when he turned invisible from the gang. But when he found that the villain slammed his owner into the ground, he followed in pursuit of Sonic and Tails who carried the brothers to the clinic as they avoided Edge (who eventually made off with the kidnapped victims). While still invisible, he ran to the Toadley Clinic and surprised everyone when he appeared from out of sight. Although he reunited with Mario, he missed his chance to see Luigi because he was frantically carted away in a gurney minutes before he appeared.

Afterwards, the doctor recommended that Mario should rejuvenate himself after the unfortunate incident. The mustached man was reluctant because he was more worried about his brother. He asked the experienced medic if he could see Luigi. Dr. Toadley was afraid he would ask about Luigi, for it was the reason why he placed Mario in a different room. He accepted his request, but again advised him to sleep it off when he's finished.

With Dr. Toadley leading the way and his Mobian pals following behind, Mario limped into Luigi's room. As they walked in, the three were utterly shocked at the visual they witnessed. Luigi was already taken care of by Toadley's crew, but he was in critical condition compared to Mario, though it didn't surprise him in that extent.

At one point, they stood on each side of Luigi's bed and begged him to wake up. Sonic gently shook his shoulder while Tails kneeled close to him with a sympathetic look. Mario held his brother's right hand tightly, desperately wanting to hear from him again. He was hoping his thoughts could communicate with Luigi's because of their brotherly bond. Colombo hopped onto the bed and carefully laid near his owner. He whined softly every time he nudged his nose on Luigi and felt saddened that he didn't respond.

The fox and the hedgehog decided to stay in the hospital room that night to keep the brothers company. By 1 a.m., the two slept on the couch together while Mario and Colombo sat in the chairs. He could have opted for the other bed, but he wanted to stay close with company. Although the ghostly Polterpup fell asleep, the red-hatted patient couldn't find the urge to join. While awake, the only thing riding on his mind overnight was Luigi. The thought of his little sibling made him forget about his own injuries. All he wanted was Luigi to be okay. He felt very bad for having his birthday ruined by some random, evil stranger which led him to a trip to the hospital.

Fast forward to the following morning and now all four of them were in complete silence after they woke up (except for Mario, albeit his leg was feeling better). They anxiously waited for the test results regarding their injured friend. Their faces expressed a large amount of worry because of the damage the green plumber had suffered from. All they could do was wait. Wait and pray.

* * *

Dr. Toadley was unlike any of the ordinary Toad denizens in the Mushroom Kingdom. He's the most famous specialist in Mario's dimension, but in a very peculiar way. He had a dark blue mushroom top with yellow stars around the border and a blue orb on top. He wore a veiling mask that covered his mouth and a matching cape with a brooch, similar to the one Princess Peach wears on her dress. Toadley also had hoop earrings in the form of rings, just like the ones Sonic collected in his adventures.

Like other doctors, he treated his patients with care and respect to nurse them back to full health. As for the unusual side, he was a fortune teller! Just like Merlon, Merluvlee, and their relatives in the wizard/clairvoyant family, the doctor owned a crystal ball. The exception was that he used it to diagnose any sicknesses and predict upcoming danger or epidemics that could strike the mushroom community.

Back then, he helped the Mario Bros. cure the Blorbs, a disease that spread throughout the town that affected poor Toads to enlarge in size and render them to be immovable. He also had this weird sense of dialogue where he asked and answered his own questions. When Mario and Luigi first met with the doctor, they were somewhat bewildered by his speech. But over the years, they've gotten used to it. He was claimed to know _everything_. **_(2)_**

In this case, he was analyzing Luigi's status since Sonic and Tails carried the Mario Bros. to the clinic. And after taking care of Mario, he went back to work to recover the younger one. Even though he and his workers were up all night in the office to seek answers, they finally reached a diagnosis. Unfortunately, it involved some bad news and he had to deliver it to his guests, one way or another.

He sauntered inside Room 206 to see the four allies sitting quietly in the corner. They all turned to him when they heard his footsteps. His facial expressions were disguised under his doctor's mask. He appeared to be nonchalant, but deep down he was discouraged. Toadley felt horrible that he had to share his discovery.

"Dr. Toadley, have you figured out anything? Will he be okay?" pleaded Mario with sadness.

He took a deep breath before answering. "Will the green-hatted patient be fine? Yes, he's holding his own for the recovery." The guys all sighed with relief. "However, does this mean it is a good situation? No, not at all." The group converted back to their worried selves. "I'm afraid I have some bad news regarding the poor man. It's more… devastating towards you, to say the least. But unless your friends don't mind, I'll tell it to them as well," he referred towards the mustached man.

Mario looked back at Tails and Sonic who both nodded their heads for assurance. They wanted him to know that he wasn't the only one who was curious about Luigi's condition. Colombo added a slight whimper to show his affection.

Mario stared back at the physician. "Go ahead…"

"Will you be upset when I tell this? Definitely. What is the current status of Luigi Mario, the younger Mario brother? Well…" Dr. Toadley let his head peer down and shut his eyes. He paused for a few seconds for a dramatic reveal. The red-hatted plumber was shaking on the edge of his chair. Sonic, Tails, and Colombo each had troubled looks on their faces. Finally, he raised his chin, opened his eyelids, and finished his statement, "…he's in a coma."

"…"

That was the basic response from the quartet. To summarize in three words, _they were speechless_. So speechless that they froze in their chairs for a minute.

"Am I telling the truth? I'm afraid so. How long will this man be comatose and bedridden? Not even I know the answer to that. If I were to make a prediction, he would need at least a couple days to recompose himself. His heartbeat has been steady every time I checked him for the last three hours. But still, those electric shocks he received earlier caused him to fall in this deep slumber. Initially, his heart rate was as high as 140 beats per minute, which was not a good sign. But as time passed, it seemed to decrease to a normal rate of eighty to ninety. Thankfully, he's still with us. Alive."

"Is there anything else we may need to know about him?" Sonic asked kindly.

"Nothing new so far other than the information I gave you, my blue friend. Sadly, we need to wait," he sighed. "I'll continue to regularly check up on him. I'll take a look at his blood pressure, listen to his lungs and heart, the usual procedure plus additional assistance for the situation."

"I feel so terrible for Luigi. Sonic and I have had our unfortunate trips to the hospital back on Mobius whenever Eggman attacked the city. But we have never suffered as bad as him," Tails mourned with his tails and ears drooping.

"Eventually, we'll have to tell him about what happened. When he hears about that though, he's going to be heartbroken. No doubt about it. He's probably going to blame himself for this when it wasn't his fault in the first place," lamented Mario.

"If he does pin blame and responsibility, then I won't take it. He should know that he got attacked. He got hurt. He got into this state all because of that… damn shadow figure. So it wasn't his fault. Ugh, I swear, I'm gonna make that purple, butt-faced jerk pay for what he did to Luigi and the others," Sonic grumbled as he made a fist.

The hedgehog was very passionate and serious when it comes to his friends being in danger. Whenever it happened to Tails, his overprotective traits would take over, and he would get angry at himself for not protecting the fox. Sonic promised that he would do whatever it took to save his little buddy from Eggman or whoever threatened him. And the slightest can easily trigger him, even if the enemy were to touch one of the yellow bangs on his forehead. If he was too late to rescue him, he would never live it down; he wouldn't know what to do without his kind, loving brother.

Mario and Tails were not as mad as him, but they could see where Sonic was going. They all despised Myster Edge when he kidnapped their friends. Along with Colombo, they were the only ones who made it out of the incident. To further elaborate, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, Amy, and Yoshi ended up getting taken by Edge along with the other captives (including Bowser and Bowser Jr.). They also knew that he was desperate to find the Chaos Emeralds. By capturing Shadow, the villain had the cyan jewel to give him three in his hand, unbeknownst to Luigi, while Sonic kept the yellow one. The purple, blue, and green gems lingered in his world, but neither he nor Tails knew where they were located.

The guys already have two problems in the palms of their hands. One, they needed to save their friends. And two, they had to prevent Edge from collecting the other Emeralds. Alas, they would have to deal with a third issue, but they won't know until later. That's because they had to wait for Luigi to wake up, as he was the one out of the group who had learned the gist of Edge's master plan through his dreams.

The doctor spoke again, only this time without questions. Nothing but serious statements. "I'll leave you guys for a bit. I understand you're taking in this information slowly. Trust me, I'm as distraught as you guys are, for I, too, am concerned about Luigi." And with that, Dr. Toadley silently walked out of the room.

Tails, Sonic, Mario, and Colombo simultaneously gave each other glances once the physician left. They all looked back at the unconscious Italian who lied in his hospital bed. Again, all they could do was the same thing they've done before Dr. Toadley gave them the heartbreaking news. Wait until he wakes up. Pray that he'll be okay from the recovery. Just wait and pray.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

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 _Now we know that Luigi's out cold in the clinic, but he's gonna be okay… Hopefully. Nonetheless, it will take some time for him to get back on his feet, which will be at least a week in real life when I update the next chapter._

 _What will happen next? Can Luigi hold his own ground despite his poor condition? Only one way to find out…_

 _Please review, follow/favorite, PM me if you want, and all that good stuff. Thanks for reading, and I'll see in the next one!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _The Toadley Clinic is a hospital owned by Dr. Toadley and found in Toad Town, which was introduced in_ _Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story_ _for the Nintendo DS._

 ** _(2):_** _Dr. Toadley made his debut in said game above. I played this last summer for the first time and it's my favorite of the series. It's also one of the best Mario RPG games in my opinion. I totally recommend playing this game, along with_ _Superstar Saga_ _and_ _Partners in Time_ _(the 1_ _st_ _and 2_ _nd_ _installments of the_ _Mario & Luigi_ _games). Without spoiling too much of the game, Dr. Toadley helped Mario and Luigi find some special objects that were needed to get rid of the spreading illness and rescue Princess Peach from the main antagonist (who is NOT Bowser, which is a nice change)._


	14. Ch 13: The Bond's Still Strong

_A/N:_ _This has nothing to do with the story. But if you want, go to my profile and vote on my first poll on what games you are excited for the Nintendo Switch! Since Nintendo released the console on Friday, I wanted to create a poll on what titles you're anticipating, whether they were already released on launch day, or if they'll be out later in 2017._

 _My top 3 are:_

 ** _(1):_** _Super Mario Odyssey_

 ** _(2):_** _The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild_

 ** _(3):_** _Splatoon 2_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _This chapter has been re-edited as of 5/3/18, mostly because I didn't like what I had the first two times, especially the flashback. The chapter title also changed._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own Mario & Sonic. They're from Nintendo and Sega, etc._

* * *

 **Chapter 13:** The Bond's Still Strong

 _~3 days later, 8:00 a.m._

Back inside Room 206, Mario and Sonic were seated in the two chairs across from Luigi's hospital bed. The former received newly replaced bandages after he took a shower. He still had the same gown he was given since he was admitted into the clinic. Every several minutes, he dazed his attention between the sunrise outside and Luigi who was still stuck in his coma.

Over the past three days, the doctor/fortune teller checked the unconscious man periodically. He used his stethoscope to listen to his beating heart and breathing from the lungs. His staff would replace his old bandages with new, clean ones. They double-checked the IVs to make sure Luigi was receiving the proper fluids.

Obviously, Mario was worried about him. But that's not the only thing running through his mind. The man in red was thinking about Princess Peach. Being kidnapped for the umpteenth time must be tiring for both of them, but this abduction was instigated by a new perpetrator. And not only did this evil figure take Peach away, but he also snatched Yoshi, Daisy, the Toads, and the rest of Sonic's friends. He knew they all had to be rescued. Sonic and Tails would likely help as well, but they knew he wouldn't budge and leave Luigi behind.

While Mario was stuck in deep thoughts, Sonic decided to watch some television. The first thing that popped up was a live news report.

"Oh! This is the news station that interviewed Dr. Toadley and us!"

After the introduction, the screen transitioned to a green-dotted Toad with a black mustache and a brown leather jacket sitting behind his news desk.

"It is 8 a.m. sharp with the sun rising above the Mushroom Kingdom. Good morning everyone, this is Chad T., reporting to you on _Mushroom Morning Live_. Today, we have a lead on the incident that occurred in the kingdom three days ago on the night of the birthday party held at Peach's Castle for the man in green, the younger Mario brother, Luigi. Our news reporter, Linda T. will explain further details about the situation."

"Thank you, Chad. I am here reporting in front of the well-known Mushroom Castle. At the scene of the crime, the Mario Bros. and their allies were fighting against Bowser and his kids who invaded Toad Town that night. After the ambush, the ruler of the realm, Princess Peach, along with several of her friends from this world as well Sonic's home, Mobius, have been kidnapped by a strange entity. The downward spiral of events continued when the birthday man himself was severely injured from electric attacks by the same mysterious figure. Our main hero, Mario, was also hurt in battle when he sustained an injured left calf and a slashed chest from his Koopa archnemesis."

"After evading the purple shadow, the brothers were taken to the Toadley Clinic, courtesy of the other heroes, Sonic the Hedgehog and Miles Prower, a.k.a Tails the Fox. Over the course of the three-day period, Dr. Toadley and his staff took control to nurse the mustached heroes and the slightly injured kitsune back to full health. Reports from the famous physician have been released."

Dr. Toadley was shown next on the channel. "Mario lost some blood, but we managed to restore his condition. Thankfully, it was the only major thing he suffered other than the pulled calf. Tails is doing fine with his hand that got burnt. However, Luigi was in worse shape, for he is in a coma. I predicted he would be back in a few days when I discovered this. His friends were devastated with the news. Nonetheless, the man's going on strong and he's holding his own. All we could hope for is a fast recovery."

The TV cut back to several shots of the castle and the remains of what happened as Linda talked over the transition. "While residents in the kingdom grieve for the loss of their princess, they have joined together to repair the town buildings. They also managed to send gifts to Luigi as a sign of their condolence, not just for his birthday, but to wish him well. Going back to the kidnapping, however, eyewitnesses Sonic and Tails reported the identity of the abductor who took Princess Peach and her friends."

"Hey look, Mario! It's me and Tails!" Sonic pointed to the TV, trying to get his attention.

The screen cut to the two characters as the hedgehog exclaimed into the microphone.

"When we saw this dude, he looked taller than Bowser! He wore a black cloak and held a powerful scepter that contained some of the Chaos Emeralds from our world!"

"I overheard him introducing himself. He identified himself as a Shadow Spirit and that his name was 'Myster Edge', Myster with a 'y'. Then, he harassed Luigi! He was using the Chaos Emeralds, the ones he apparently took from Eggman," the yellow fox told the reporter.

"Not only did he take the princess, but he also snatched Amy, Knuckles, and everyone else who joined Luigi's party. Even Egghead's robots and Bowser were in the mix of this. Luckily, we made it out of the scene. But Tails and I had to carry the bros and escape from Edge before he tried to harm them even more. Beforehand, the shadow figure slammed Luigi to the ground. Unfortunately, we were too slow. I felt extremely guilty because with my speed, I should've been fast to run up and catch him from his fall. Now he's here, badly broken. But thank goodness he's still alive," Sonic added.

The camera shifted back to Tails. "One thing's for sure, we don't where he's holding them hostage. Secondly, since he took our friend, Shadow, Edge has another Chaos Emerald in his hands, giving him three. We don't know why he wants them, but it cannot be good. Luigi's still sleeping from his comatose state. And Mario is the most worried out all of us. We can't help but feel bad for both brothers."

 ***CLICK** *****

Mario turned off the television. Because of this, the hedgehog was disappointed.

"Aw! What the hell was that for, Mario? We were on TV!"

"Need I remind you of what's _really_ important, and that's watching over Luigi, who's _still_ unconscious?" he grunted with a scowl.

Sonic gave him a sorrowful look. "Oh, you're right. Sorry, Mario."

Mario looked back at his friend and sighed. "No, I'm sorry. I'm just… terrified, you know? His heart may be beating right now. But if it wasn't, I would have lost him forever. I would be the only one in my family, and I can't think of a life without him." He looked away for a second and tipped his cap down. He twiddled his thumbs as he felt uneasy.

Sonic put his hand over his shoulder for comfort. "It's okay, Mario. It's gonna be okay."

The plumber took in his gesture and leaned on his shoulder. He closed his eyes as the hedgehog patted him to alleviate his misery.

Tails entered the room with a tray of breakfast for his friends. He had a feeling Mario was still distressed, so he kept his facial expression as neutral as possible. Colombo followed the fox as he balanced another platter of food on his back.

"Here you go, guys. It's on the house from Dr. Toadley's staff." Tails set the plates on the stand-up tables in front of their chairs. The breakfast platters had scrambled eggs, sausages, and hash browns. He also handed them glasses of orange juice.

"Thanks, Tails," Sonic and Mario said blankly.

The yellow kit went over to the vacant couch and took the tray off the Polterpup's back. "Thanks again for helping, Colombo."

"Bark!" the ghost dog responded. Colombo jumped up on the cushion and was given a dog bowl with some golden bones.

The three heroes quietly ate their breakfast while Colombo gnawed on his treats. After a few minutes of silence, Mario broke into conversation.

"So, did Dr. Toadley find anything new with Luigi's status?"

Tails was about to eat a sausage link before he paused and answered. "Nothing. It's the same thing. We have to wait until he wakes up. How about you guys?"

"We were watching the morning news and they were discussing about Edge and the invasion. I got to see myself on TV. Too bad you missed it, Tails," Sonic replied.

"Oh, well I got a glimpse of us when another room was streaming that channel. I didn't really pay attention though since Colombo and I were delivering the food."

"So, they just pre-taped your reactions beforehand and added it to the news report?" Mario asked the fox.

"Basically, yeah."

"By the way, Mario, why did you decline getting interviewed? Were you nervous or something?" Sonic wondered as he ate a hash brown.

When he heard the question, Mario narrowed his eyes. He stared at his plate while he played around with his food.

"Mario? Hello?" Sonic waved his gloved hand in front of him.

He shook his head and looked up. "Sorry, Sonic."

The hedgehog started to get concerned about his friend again. "Are you okay?" he asked sympathetically.

"No, I'm not," he sighed. "Truth be told, I didn't want those guys up in my faces. I've already had to deal with the media too much in my previous adventures."

"What exactly happened?" questioned Tails as he picked up a hash brown.

"Every time I take part of an interview, it's either me getting the unwanted attention and Luigi being pulled away to the sidelines, or I get ridiculed for not protecting the Mushroom Kingdom. Sometimes, I despise the public eye and the paparazzi. I can't always save the fucking place on my own."

Tails and Sonic were frozen when he swore with disgust written on his face. But they let him continue.

"Although I've had my own perilous quests, I would ask Luigi to join me on some of them. That's coming from either being forced into the journey or he offered a hand. But whenever we come back to rescue Peach or save the world, all the Toads, the news teams, and my fans would share their unlimited praise to me...

"As for Luigi, he rarely gets any recognition for the stuff he's done. He would take down Bowser without my assistance, yet everyone focused on me like I did it on my own. What they don't know is that he's helpful. And that's what makes me angry."

After spitting those words out with venom, he remained quiet for a few minutes while the others patiently waited as they ate their food. When he spoke again, Mario's voice got lower and moodier.

"The only times where Luigi was praised and accepted for his heroics was when he saved me from King Boo in both of his mansion quests. However, they weren't long-lasting and almost every Toad forgot about him, his name, or who he looks like within a week...

"Seriously, it's not that difficult to remember my brother. He's basically me, but taller, skinnier, and less stubborn. He wears green instead of red, so he's not a clone of me. The Toad community may be kind, but it sickens me whenever they mistake my brother as someone else or condemn him as a nobody… Then again, it's sort of my fault for him to be stuck in my shadow."

Sonic finished his glass of orange juice and spoke. "What do you mean you were the one to make him stuck in your shadow? Why do they just ignore him like he's nonexistent?"

Mario looked down at his plate which stayed the same since he started talking about the past.

"When we landed here in this kingdom, I was looked upon to be the main hero of the Mushroom Kingdom whereas Luigi was considered the secondary player, or sidekick. But as time passed, I've started to leave him behind and forget about him, the same way the Toads ignored him.

"One instance was when I went on vacation with Princess Peach to Isle Delfino, just to relax from my previous adventures. We were accompanied by Toadsworth and her Toad retainers as 'protection'. That vacation went into a downfall when I got framed for polluting the island and she got kidnapped by Bowser's son, the first time I've seen the little son of a bitch. But do you know what was worse than all of that?"

Sonic and Tails looked at each other before they returned their gaze to the saddened plumber sitting between them. Colombo slowly walked up to him and cuddled in his lap.

"It happened after Luigi rescued me the first time. I didn't even invite him to join me. Even though he wasn't the one who spent hours to clean up Jr.'s graffiti, he never got to experience a tropical vacation like I did when I finally recovered the Shine Sprites."

He took a bite of his eggs which have gone cold. He shuddered and went back to his story.

"When we returned to the kingdom, Luigi didn't speak with me for a week. It didn't take me long to know why he acted like that. I just left him alone without being courteous and asked him if he wanted to join our getaway. Instead, I took it as a romantic trip with Peach. That's one instance where he lied about being happy and hid his feelings from me. Whenever he did that, I felt troubled by his behavior. I feel guilty, too, especially when I'm the one who caused him to have those negative thoughts. And that has happened numerous times, mostly because I wanted him safe and away from danger so he wouldn't get hurt. But I should have let him do what he wanted so he could become the person he aspired to be, rather than isolate him."

Sonic breathed in deeply as he took Mario's words to heart and compared that to his relationship with Tails. Similarly, he left the fox at his own home when Tails was still a young, vulnerable kid. Every time Eggman had a new army of robots to invade Mobius, Sonic was overprotective of the fox and told him to stay safe, much to Tails' dismay. And whenever the kitsune disobeyed him, he would get furious for his actions, only to regret yelling at him and making his little brother cry. Tails meant everything to Sonic since he took him from Westside Island and away from those damn bullies. He loved him to death and would kill to make sure he didn't get hurt. Yet whenever he left Miles behind or made him upset in general, he'd be remorseful, just like how Mario felt whenever he dismissed Luigi.

Mario leaned back as his head touched the wall. Colombo looked up at the red-hatted man and sniffed his chin. Mario flinched and patted his head, giving the dog a sad smile. It was replaced by another frown below his mustache.

"I can see why you really care about Luigi. And I don't blame you for leaving him behind. It reminds of Sonic taking care of me when it just the two of us. We've been through the same scenario," Tails claimed with a few tears in his eyes.

"Yeah, but I've seen you gain respect after the public saw your specialty: flying, with those two exquisite tails of yours," Mario pointed out. "You've also done a lot as a mechanic and a kid genius, as well. People from your world have recognized and remembered you because you're unique. They know Sonic because of his speed and bravery. But as for Luigi, no one thinks of him deeply. They call him a sidekick, or a humble hero who isn't courageous. I get the credit; he gets the disrespect. I'm part of the reason why he's stuck in that hole."

"Hey, don't say that. You've done a lot of good things to your brother. Those people don't perceive who Luigi truly is," assured Sonic.

"That's basically what I mentioned before. They don't see the man I made him today. They don't know the character he built since he trudged through his first adventure alone. And when he does show some heroic qualities, I'm usually not there to acknowledge it...

"A great example happened about a month ago. It was another one of those days after we've rescued Peach. She decided to throw another party. And like almost every other one, I was the center of attention. And for some reason, it took my mind off Luigi at the moment. It was like that until I found out he left the event early. And when I found him, he did something that I have never seen him do. It made me realize how dejected he was. It was a brokenhearted mess."

Sonic and Tails stopped eating as they were interested in learning part of Mario's past. They didn't bother talking as they silently signaled the man to continue. Mario looked up to the ceiling as he started to replay the sad memory in his mind.

* * *

 _~Flashback, 1 month ago_

 _Mario was escorting Princess Peach to the castle with Luigi following closely behind. The brothers finished another multi-world adventure to rescue Her Highness from King Bowser. When they entered Toad Town, Mario was greeted by the multitude of Toads who cheered for him for getting their ruler back. He and Peach smiled at the sight of the vibrant town. One or two Toads acknowledged Luigi, but that was about it as most of the attention was towards the red hero._

 _Speaking of which, the man in green offered a couple of small smiles and hand waves to those who praised him. Other than that, he felt lonely. That's including the fact that he kept his distance from the couple ahead of him. He didn't want to stand beside them as the awkward third wheel. And the man in green was scared to enter their conversation because he might interrupt their moment together. He didn't want to embarrass his brother, the princess, or himself._

 _"Again, I really appreciate your help, Mario," Peach gratified. "I always get scared whenever Bowser invades the kingdom and takes me away. You make me feel safe."_

 _"It's a pleasure to hear that from you, Princess," Mario smiled as he held her hand. "We're always there to help you. Isn't that right, Luigi?"_

 _The green-hatted man shifted his view from the ground to his brother. He was a bit startled from hearing his name. "Oh, um... yeah. Always. We're there for you."_

 _Peach scanned the innocent look on her friend's face and frowned. "Luigi, are you okay?"_

 _"Oh... y-yeah. Don't worry about me, Princess. I-I'm okay. Truly," he lied._

 _Peach didn't believe him at first, but she also didn't want to interrogate him further in case something was wrong. As much as she cared about Mario, she couldn't forget about Luigi because he was one of her best friends. Mario also sensed something negative coming from his younger brother. But he pushed it aside._

* * *

 _~The following day_

 _Princess Peach decided to set up a party to celebrate the Mario Bros.' success from defeating Bowser and rescuing her again. So, she sent out invitations last night to Toads and other citizens from the friendly neighboring and faraway locations of Koopa Village, Dry Dry Outpost, Shiver City, and more. **(1)**_

 _Then, it was the night of the party. The inside of the castle was bustling with guests of different species in Mario's worlds: friendly Toads, Koopas, Bob-ombs, Mousers, and Bumpties (or Penguins). They were loving the food, dancing to the lively music, and chatting with each other. Peach would have invited Daisy to spend some time with Luigi, but the tomboy was away on vacation at the time. But even if she did visit, it wouldn't make the man happier than he was then._

 _Luigi was standing at the top of the stairs looking down at the guests enjoying themselves in the lobby. He was there alone since Mario and Peach were at the private balcony outside the Princess's room to enjoy the view and take a break from meeting the visitors. He sighed deeply with a glass of punch in his hand._

 ** _"It's always like this whenever I'm involved in this endless cycle,"_** _he pondered. **"First, we rescue Peach. Then we return and only Mario gets the credit while I'm in the background as a simpleton. We have cake, much to Mario's delight. And on occasion, the princess throws a party. And as usual, I'm the same pathetic introvert who's too shy to talk, and no one acknowledges me. Why can't I be like my older brother? Why am I such a scaredy-cat?"**_

 _Luigi gulped the drink in one swallow, wiped his mouth his sleeve, and proceeded down the stairs._

 ** _"It's not even worth being here if I'm not going to have a good time. Besides, no one's gonna bother if I just left the place. They won't recognize my disappearance."_**

 _His thoughts were wrong when he withdrew from the event. Toadsworth caught him walking out the front doors. The elderly Toad was troubled by this._

 ** _"I wonder why Master Luigi is leaving,"_** _he thought. **"He sure looks gloomy."**_

 _"Hello, Toadsworth."_

 _The elder Toad paused his contemplation when he heard a female voice and turned around to see the princess standing with the red hero._

 _"Oh, Princess Peach! Master Mario! I see you're back from your meet-and-greet break."_

 _"Yes, Toadsworth. We are," Mario answered. "Say, have you seen Luigi? I've been searching for him."_

 _He blinked at his question. "Um, well…"_

 _"Is something wrong?" Peach inquired._

 _"I happened to catch him leaving the castle just recently." That made them widen their eyes, especially Mario._

 _"Where did he go?" he asked Toadsworth._

 _"I'm not quite sure. This is going off on an assumption, but while he seemed to have gone, he looked very unhappy."_

 _"Oh no. I hope he's alright. I better go find him."_

 _"Do you want me to join you, Mario?"_

 _"Thank you, Peach. But I rather look for him on my own. I'm sorry, but I think I should take my leave now."_

 _"It's perfectly fine, really. Can I see you tomorrow?" she inquired._

 _"Tomorrow sounds good. Good night, Toadsworth. Good night, Peach."_

 _"Good night, Mario, and good luck," Peach gave a quick kiss on Mario's cheek before he left the party._

* * *

 _Mario ran out of the castle to search the main square and the outskirts of Toad Town. He asked the Toad population if anyone has seen his little bro, but to no avail. Mario was running out of places to explore, until he realized the last place he would check._

 _"Our home," he muttered._

 _The red-clad plumber jumped into the warp pipe that led to their house. By the time he reached the front lawn, he could hear something faint from inside. He walked over to the porch and peeked inside the window. There, he saw Luigi, sitting in on a piano bench and playing a melancholy tune._

 _It was a song that both he and Mario knew very well, especially the man in red. He remembered how this tune played in his head during his first ever journey in space, flying and exploring the galaxies with his star-like partner, Luma. It was reminiscent whenever he encountered an emotional moment. From reading the book in Rosalina's library, to when Luma and the other stars sacrificed themselves to counteract the black hole from Bowser's Galaxy Reactor in the center of the universe, the song gave Mario chills down his spine and into his heart. **(2)** And to hear his brother play it with a frown on his face ached him even more._

 _When Luigi let the last note linger for a while, he removed his fingers from the keys. He sighed to himself._

 _"Mario did all the work against Bowser, and he deserved the credit. No one's going to look up to a coward like me, especially if I hardly do anything besides sit in the sidelines, run away, and be scared of everything. I'd be better off watching after the house like I do most of the time. I'm just not worth it. I'm not worthy to anyone."_

 _"Not even me?"_

 _Luigi jumped a little at the voice. He slowly turned around to see his older bro standing at the front door._

 _"M-Mario? H-How did you get in here?" he stuttered while clumsily getting off the bench._

 _"It's our house, Weege. I do have a key, you know."_

 _Luigi felt embarrassed. "Oh, right..."_

 _"It's okay. That doesn't matter anyway. Luigi, can I ask you something?"_

 _He was hesitant at first, but he complied. "Sure. What is it?"_

 _Mario's eyebrows dropped in deep concern. "Why are you saying that stuff about yourself? Do you really think I **don't** have faith in you?"_

 _The green man stood for a while without saying anything. Lowering his face to the floor, he breathed in deeply._

 _"All I want is to be appreciated, too. I know, it's egotistical of myself. But, the only reason why I'm not is because... I'm nothing like you. You're so strong, brave, and helpful. I'm just... scared, weak, and lost in the shadows. I always wanted to be like you. But it turns out I never will. I'm a letdown to everyone, including you."_

 _Luigi was going to continue, but Mario had enough of hearing him demean himself. He rushed over to place his hands on his shoulders. Luigi tilted his head up to see Mario staring at him with a serious, yet sympathetic look. And to his surprise, Mario hugged him. He didn't know how to respond._

 _"Never once in my life have you let me down, fratello. Nor have I have ever felt like you aren't worthy to me." Mario pulled away to face him again. "You don't have to be like me to be a hero or be recognized by everyone. I like you when you're just yourself. Peach and Daisy like you that way. Who cares if you're not me? I still love you, no matter what."_

 _Luigi was developing tears in his sad eyes. "D-Do you... r-really mean that, b-big bro?"_

 _"Every single word of it. Luigi, I'm lucky to have you be part of my life. Because if I was alone, things wouldn't have been as fun or adventurous. All the journeys we've made, all the kart races we drove, all the parties we had fun in, it wouldn't be the same without you. You add value to our lives, including mine. But that's mostly because you're my best friend and my family."_

 _By then, Luigi quivered his lips until a faint sign of a smile appeared. Mario grinned as well, knowing that his brother trusted him. They embraced in the living room for a long time, making sure they wouldn't let their brotherly bond collapse._

 _"Th-Thank you, Mario. Ti amo, fratello."_

 _"You're welcome, Luigi. Ti amo, anch'io." **(3)**_

 _~End of flashback_

* * *

"It haunts me to this day whenever I feel like I'm never supportive of him and whenever he doesn't believe in himself. He tends to have low self-esteem whenever he's inconsolable. I promised him that I would always be by his side. I just don't want him to leave my life so soon."

Mario lowered his hat again to conceal his face. Sonic, Tails, and Colombo felt compassionate for their friend. They understood the point he made earlier and all he could think about is making sure Luigi was okay, both physically and emotionally.

After another minute of tranquility, the four heard a soft groan.

"You should've ate more of your breakfast, Mario. No wonder your stomach's growling," Sonic uttered.

Mario gave him a confused expression. "That wasn't me." The guys heard the same noise again.

Tails was baffled. "Well, what was that noise?"

"It's not me, that's for sure. Maybe the ghost dog's growling from something. Maybe he's sensing Edge nearby." Colombo barked angrily to the hedgehog's response. He was indicating that Sonic was wrong. "Sorry, dude."

"It's not coming from anyone of us. I didn't recognize anything outside our room or out the window. So where is it…"

Mario got interrupted by the sounds and it was at that point where the gang finally found the source. The four glanced at Luigi who was stirring in his sleep.

"Guys, I think he might be waking up!" Tails exclaimed as he stood up from the couch.

Sonic hopped out of his chair and joined Tails on Luigi's left side. Colombo jumped out of Mario's lap and landed on the hospital bed. Mario ran up to his brother's right and noticed the scared look in his sleep. It reminded him of the times Luigi had those nightmares when they were saving the petrified Pi'illo folk. **_(4)_**

"Luigi… Luigi…" Sonic called out to him. Colombo whimpered to his owner as he sniffed his broken chest.

"Please… wake up… We need you…" begged Tails.

"Bro… are you okay?" Mario pleaded for an answer.

There was nothing coming from Luigi other than the soft grunts before he went back to a period of silence. The group gathered around his bed were getting anxious by the minute, hoping that their friend would wake up after hearing from him. But it seemed to be a misunderstanding.

Mario sighed heavily as he thought Luigi remained in his comatose condition. He was about to release his grip and head back to his chair. But he was denied.

The red-hatted man looked over at Luigi and gazed back at his hand. He could have sworn the grip got tighter, but he wasn't the one applying force. No, it seemed that Mario got a response… a signal from his brother… a sign that he's back…

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Find out what happens next in Chapter 14. Is Luigi coming out of his coma? Or is it just a false alarm?_

 _Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys next Monday._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I chose several locations that originated from Paper Mario (Nintendo 64)._

 ** _(2):_** _I decided to rewrite most of the flashback since the old one seemed very irrelevant and poorly structured. Also, I replaced a song that was used in a Mario game: 'Luma' from Super Mario Galaxy. I would recommend listening to this song played by the Video Game Pianist, who did a fantastic piano cover of this song._

 ** _(3):_** _The two Italian phrases are translated to 'I love you, bro' and 'I love you, too' respectively. (This is an additional PCN.)_

 ** _(4):_** _Mario and Luigi had to rescue Pi'illos from M&L: Dream Team (3DS). During some of the dreamy adventures, Luigi would be frightened when his dreamy form and Mario had to fight some giant bosses._


	15. Ch 14: Awakening Outburst

_A/N:_ _Again, I made some minor changes to the previous chapters, but you don't have to reread the whole thing to check them. It's just to restructure the author's notes and fix grammar mistakes._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Same old, same old. Nintendo and Sega own Mario and Sonic, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 14:** Awakening Outburst

Sonic, Tails, and Colombo noticed the strange occurrence between the brothers. Mario held Luigi's hand and before he was about to leave, the younger one held their grasp tighter than before. Along with Mario, they glanced at Luigi, whose face remained scared, yet quiet for some reason. They even noticed his right eye twitching. As they leaned towards Luigi to check him once more, what surprised all four of them wasn't the sight of him fluttering his eye. Instead…

"AAAAAHHHH!"

Luigi swiftly rose his body, bulged his eyes wide open, and screamed at the top of his lungs. Tails jumped into Sonic's hands, catching the hedgehog off guard as they both flinched. Mario tumbled to the ground, letting go of Luigi. Colombo yelped and hopped off the bed to check on the fallen man. His heart was pounding at the scene.

Luigi was staring blankly in space as he panted from the nightmare he had. His vision, however, was blurry at first and he couldn't detect where he was or what just happened. After a moment of peace, despite the random jump scare, the green-hatted patient had his eyesight restored.

And the first thing he saw when he rotated his head to the left was Sonic, holding onto a frightened Tails. Then, he looked to his right and saw Mario and Colombo, startled on the hospital floor. He gazed back and forth to see else what was around him: the window showing a view of Toad Town, the IV stands hooked up to his veins, the heart monitor that tracked his heart rate (which slowed at its regular pace after the sudden screaming), the white bandages that wrapped around his various body parts, and the fact that he's lying in a hospital bed.

"Huh? What the… what are you guys doing here? Why am I… in a hospital?!" he stuttered.

Mario got on his feet and picked up the ghostly dog. With a serious tone, Mario came face-to-face with his brother. "Luigi, you were attacked at the night of your birthday. Sonic and Tails took us in to Dr. Toadley. He took care of us, but mostly you… because you were diagnosed with a coma."

Luigi was shocked. "A… coma?! For how long?!"

"Three days. You were out cold. I felt so bad for you. All of us do," Sonic answered as he set Tails down.

"We looked over you and couldn't help but worry. Myster Edge really did a number on you," Tails remarked.

 _"Myster Edge?"_ Luigi pondered. _"Where have I heard that name? Wait a minute… Edge… yeah. It's that guy. That_ _ **bastard**_ _! He hurt me with his electric shocks. And that's why I'm here, in the hospital."_

The three friends noticed a strange, rare look on Luigi's face. He displayed rage, disgust, and every other negative feeling twisted in.

"Uhh, you alright, Luigi?" asked Sonic.

Luigi didn't have a chance because at that time, Dr. Toadley walked into the room and became flabbergasted.

"Well, what do we have here?" he started which made everyone turn their attention to him. "Is Luigi up and about from his coma? Indeed! Welcome back, young man!"

"Dr. Toadley! Can I get out of this hospital now?"

The physician was a bit startled at Luigi's request. "I'm sorry?"

"I have to go see Professor E. Gadd immediately. Can I be excused?"

"Now, hold on a moment…" Mario interrupted, putting his hands up in a 'stop' gesture. "Why do you need to see the professor?"

Luigi turned to his friends while the doctor stood in the background with bewilderment. "Sonic, Tails, Edge stole the two Chaos Emeralds from Eggman, right?"

"Uhh… yeah…" Sonic hesitated.

"Well, technically, he now has three. He snatched Shadow's when Edge kidnapped him," Tails added.

"Oh no. This isn't good at all," he said to himself. "And the others were captured as well: Yoshi, Amy, Knuckles, and Silver?"

The two bulged their eyes. "Yeah, but how did you know? You were unconscious at that time!" the cobalt hedgehog exclaimed.

"Since I was in a coma, I had a nightmare. And in that nightmare, I was in this weird location full of darkness and these purple shards. Next thing I knew, I saw Colombo. Later, he ran up to something I never expected: Myster Edge."

"Whoa, you saw Edge… in your nightmare?"

Luigi nodded at Tails. "Yes, and he told me a lot of things that made me nervous."

"What did he say?" Mario wondered.

"We were in this dark area called the Oblivion, which he says is imminent once he gets his hands on all seven Emeralds. He's searching for them to destroy all worlds. Not only that, but he told me that he abducted the rest of our friends. That's how I knew about their disappearance. Luckily, he didn't take you guys as well, or I'd be alone somewhere else to die or be separated from you."

Luigi was on the verge of crying as he stopped his story for a minute. Mario and the others were somewhat surprised to hear another 'end of all worlds' cliché, this one coming from the shadow figure. Noticing his emotions, Dr. Toadley walked up to the patient and handed him a handkerchief. Luigi obliged and wiped his watery eyes.

"After that, there was more bad news. He happened to destroy the Dark Moon of Evershade Valley."

Mario raised his eyelids. His brother's statement took him on a flashback montage of the Dark Moon quest when Luigi ventured through the valley to fight King Boo and retrieve the moon fragments. He shuddered at the memory when he got kidnapped, too.

"The Dark Moon? What the heck is that?" Tails queried.

"It's a purple celestial body that glows over the skies of Evershade Valley, a region outside of the Mushroom Kingdom. Years ago, King Boo destroyed the moon one night. The ghosts who live there became hostile when the influence of the Dark Moon was lost, for it's the reason why they're very friendly in nature. But since they've been under control by the ghost ruler, unbeknownst to me at first, Professor E. Gadd called me to recover the broken pieces spread throughout the valley, which introduced me to my second ghost hunt. And the second time I had to rescue Mario from being trapped in a painting."

Sonic and Tails turned to Mario, who nodded in agreement.

"It's true. When I got kidnapped by the king of ghosts again, I felt horrified. I've dealt with Boos before, but _he_ gives me chills considering how unpredictable he is. Whenever his Boo minions carried my painting throughout the mansions, I've always seen that evil sneer and listen to the evil cackle of his, along with the mind-controlled ghosts. As I was hopelessly stuck, my thoughts ran to Luigi. I was more than scared because of his phasmophobia. **_(1)_** I didn't want him to die or get harmed trying to free me. But he faced his fears. He recovered the Dark Moon, returned the ghosts to normal, defeated King Boo, and saved my life. I was very proud of my brother for being so brave."

Mario gave him a smile as he finished his speech while Luigi blushed and tilted his cap to hide in embarrassment. Colombo leaped out of Mario's arms and licked the bedridden man to cheer him up. Luigi giggled slightly, remembering how he befriended the Polterpup after the ghosts were back into their hospitable state.

But he pushed the memories aside and frowned as he went back to his nightmare.

"Like I said, the Oblivion, the place I dreamed of, it was only a foreshadowing illusion. The 'Colombo' I saw was a hologram. But that's not the current problem. If Edge gets the Emeralds, then the worlds are in danger. And since he broke the Dark Moon, it must've served some purpose for his plan. But I didn't get spoiled of that information since he kept it discreet. Either way, it's bad news bears."

"So, is that why you need to see the professor? To see if he knows anything about the Dark Moon collapsing?"

"Yes, Sonic. Which is why I need to ask again." Luigi shifted his head from the hedgehog to the doctor who stood next to Mario. "Dr. Toadley, can I please be excused from the hospital? It's an emergency."

"Luigi, I'm afraid I can't," the Toad doctor responded.

"What? Why not?"

"Do I understand your urgent needs? I do. But isn't it best to take in some time to catch your breath and maintain your health? I recommend so."

The green-hatted patient narrowed his eyes. "You've been listening to me, and you won't let me go? Can't you just hook me to a wheelchair or something?"

"Mr. Luigi, I highly suggest you should continue taking it easy before you get yourself in danger again."

"Okay, now you're starting to sound like Toadsworth. He's been too contemplative over the Princess's well-being. And you're acting like him, only towards me." Mario and company detected some annoyance from his voice.

"Am I going to argue with you? No, I'm not in the mood for that. And do you think I want to put you at risk to further weaken your unstable body? Absolutely not. Seriously, I advise you to get some more bed rest. Even though you recovered from your coma, I am still unsure if it's the right idea to remove you this early."

Now Luigi was tired of this game. He was about to reach his breaking point. Anger started to build up inside him. It didn't go unnoticed as Sonic, Tails, and Mario all have concerned looks towards their friend. Even Colombo started to walk away from his owner with caution.

"Luigi, I see your frustration. But please, let's remain calm…" Mario tried to assure Luigi, but that apparently was the wrong thing to say.

"Remain calm?" He turned his angry face to Mario and raised his voice. "That goddamn son of a bitch who attacked us at the castle three days ago is slowly working his way on destroying our worlds. And you're telling me to remain calm?! I can't be thinking about myself! I'm not gonna be selfish and let my friends suffer, knowing they're gone. Who knows what that villain is doing to them? What if he already found the rest of the Emeralds?!" Everyone widened their eyes at his sudden outburst.

"Bro, I understand, but I'm not gonna let you get hurt after what happened to you. I have to agree with Dr. Toadley on this one."

"Oh, here we go again!"

"Now what are you talking about?"

"It's the same shit you do to me, Mario. You prefer to leave me alone so that I can stay safe from danger rather than helping others. But since you're so versatile and strong, it doesn't make a difference when you go out to save the worlds despite the conditions you've been in."

Mario was starting to get exasperated at his brother quarreling. "Luigi, this is different. You've been hurt _and_ you were passed out for over 72 hours. You need to rebuild your health to its maximum."

"You're being overprotective," accused Luigi, folding his arms.

"I am not!" Mario retorted in defense. "I care so much about you and the last thing I want from you is to sustain your injuries and possibly make them worse than before!"

"You just contradicted yourself, big bro. You _are_ overprotective."

Mario was now infuriated. "Luigi, I swear to the Star Spirits, I'm not going to let you get hurt again. I'll handle the situation while you heal here."

"So you can go and take in the fame and glory like you usually do, whether or not it's on purpose?"

The red-hatted man clenched his fists. "You know I don't take credit from where it's due. It's not my fault the Toads can't remember you for your qualities other than being afraid most of the time."

Sonic and Tails dropped some beads of sweat at Mario's harsh comment. They both thought that was the wrong thing to say. And they knew this conversation was going nowhere but trouble.

Luigi twitched his lips as he took in Mario's words. "So I'm nothing but a worthless person? Or a scaredy-cat? Or both?" He shook his head indignantly. "Sometimes I wonder why I even exist in this world. I also deliberate on why I have such an ignorant brother."

The hedgehog and fox looked at each other in worriment. They believed that Luigi crossed a line there. And they were right.

"That's the last straw, Weegie!" Mario angrily shouted and pointed a finger in front of his brother's face. "You are going to stay in that bed and rest up until you're truly revitalized! And if you're going to argue with me one more time, then I will…"

"Degrade me like everyone else does? Put me down even more than I have been before? Leave me behind so _you're not there_ for me, like all the other times?" Luigi replied his interruptions in a calm voice this time. And by the looks on his face, he was stressed out and depressed. Deep down inside, however, he was extremely pissed off. He didn't want to blow his top; he was already starting to get a migraine from this discussion.

Mario's livid behavior loosened up when he heard those three words again. _You're not there._ Looking back at his actions, he was filled with regret for yelling at his younger brother like that. He was developing another flashback of memories when Luigi sung in sadness and isolation.

Dr. Toadley, Colombo, Tails, and Sonic didn't expect their mustached friends to veer off in the wrong direction. Given their brotherly relationship, they expected a carefree reunion once Luigi woke up from his coma.

Their expectations took a downfall unfortunately. It all started when the bedridden man screamed from a nightmare and talked about Myster Edge's evil plan on obliterating all worlds. Then out of nowhere, they've witnessed a dramatic fight between the brothers. They saw the stubborn, dominant side of Mario and the aggressive, demanding view of Luigi (which was MUCH different than his kind demeanor). The guys stood in silence as the room was full of awkward tension.

The disturbing silence was finally broken when Luigi sighed. "Fine. I'll go rest if that's what you want," he responded as his tone sounded like he was defeated, yet irritated. "But mark my words, it will probably be a regretful decision to not just me and you, but to everyone else as well." He turned his back to Mario as he scrunched up inside the sheets and pulled them over his head to block his view from anyone.

Feeling rejected and remorseful, Mario pleaded for an apology. "Luigi… I didn't mean to hurt your feelings… I just…"

He was cut off by Luigi again. "Leave."

Mario furrowed his brows. "I'm… I'm sorry?" he stammered.

"Leave. I want to be alone. Please don't bother me," he grouched with contempt.

Mario didn't listen to him though. He stood there, his feet planted on the tile floor, refusing to walk out the door. He frowned deeply, thinking he slammed Luigi's morale down to another low. That's what it looked like given the scene he was a part of.

"Luigi? Come on, man," said Sonic kindly. "Mario only wants you to be safe. Don't take it the wrong way. I, too, get overprotective of Tails because I love him to death. He's my best friend, and more importantly, my little brother. The same feeling goes to you two, as well. Mario loves you as a brother and will always do anything to keep your spirits up. If he does hurt your feelings, you know he didn't mean to do it on purpose. Don't you see that?"

Tails backed up the hedgehog. "Sonic's right. Mario is the older brother and is always there to help others, including you. He's not going to berate you for every mistake you've done or every argument you two engage in. Those things happen because he cares about you. They happen between us when I was still a little, helpless fox. Sonic would yell at me and I would fight with him, but only because he was either teaching me a lesson, or looking out for me in case I get into any trouble. That's kind of the responsibility as the bigger sibling."

"And believe us, we also want you to feel better. As much Edge is out there trying to find the Chaos Emeralds, we're not gonna leave you behind to sit in solemn silence alone. And we don't want you to endure another coma or anything severe. You scared us enough after being out for three days," Sonic commented.

"And I promise, Luigi," Mario stated. "We will rescue our friends. Daisy, Peach, Amy, and everyone else we know and love. We'll stop Edge from destroying all worlds. But for our sakes and yours, it's for the best if you're fully recovered."

After their friends finished their speech, Colombo empathetically strolled back to his caretaker and tried to snuggle with him under the covers. He sniveled at the sight of Luigi hiding his emotions and face from everyone. Nonetheless, Luigi didn't budge, saddening the Polterpup even more. The gang started to get discouraged, yet contrite for the man in green.

"Luigi, I promise. I will make it up to you. Just bear with me. And…" Mario started to choke up in his concluding statement. "…and I'm sorry I made you feel this way. You were right. I am overprotective of you. But it's not to make you feel secluded and miserable. It's because I love you, and I don't want to lose you, like I almost did on your birthday."

And then, Mario couldn't handle it. Even though he was in front of his brother, his Mobian friends and his personal doctor, he did something that no one expected: he cried. He let out a soft sob as he tilted his head down in shame and tensed his shoulders. The tears fell and made their way down to his black mustache.

Dr. Toadley placed his hand on Mario's right shoulder so he can get his attention. Then without a word, he gestured two fingers to everyone as a signal to leave the room.

Sonic and Tails nodded at the doctor and followed him. They both gazed at Luigi, still covering his entire body in disgrace. The two turned to Mario and each gave him a 'sorry' expression. The plumber maintained his frown and picked up Colombo, who in turn whined in sorrow. And so, they exited the room with Mario walking behind everyone. When he reached the doorway, he stopped momentarily and looked back at his heartbroken brother. Mario saw Luigi trembling beneath the blanket.

"I'm sorry, Luigi… I'm very sorry…" Mario, holding the Polterpup in his right hand, grabbed the knob with his left and closed the door. But before he shut it entirely, he could've sworn he heard the patient say something.

" _Sniff_ … No, Mario… I'm sorry. Please forgive me… Daisy, Peach, everyone else… Please be safe…"

Quietness roamed throughout Room 206 and the Toadley Clinic for the rest of the day. Neither Mario, Colombo, Sonic, nor Tails came back to see Luigi knowing that the poor guy was depressed after his confrontation. Dr. Toadley still kept to his medical duties to check the patient every several hours to make sure his body was healing, but he avoided saying anything after the downward spiral of events that occurred that morning. He didn't want to upset him even more.

For Mario and company, they now know Myster Edge was bound to obliterate every piece of existence. They also learned about his plan after he destroyed the Dark Moon. Despite the dire consequences though, they refused to leave Luigi by himself in a cold, emotionless state of mind through his injuries. They wanted to support him and keep him company.

Unfortunately, that fell to pieces when he was desperate to put a stop to Edge's plan, yet everyone else agreed to wait for him to return healthy and strong. That led to Luigi having an emotional breakdown and forced everyone to leave him remote.

It was at that point they were starting to have second thoughts on the decision they made. Because who knows where Edge was hiding or where their friends were held prisoners at? And what would happen if they were too late to prevent him from collecting the Emeralds? Can Luigi recover from both his injuries and his sad thoughts? These questions raveled through their minds as the day passed on.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Luigi was completely out of character during the second half of this chapter. But was he right about the situation?_

 _Also, do you think Mario and the others made a good choice to let Luigi recover in the hospital? Do you think it would benefit him and his friends? Or is this an advantage for Edge to use this time to find the Chaos Emeralds?_

 _In the next one, we'll focus on the captives and revisit a character that hasn't been seen for a long time._

 _Review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys later!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Phasmophobia- having a fear of ghosts. Confirmed in the_ _Luigi's Mansion_ _series, and in almost every other Mario game. The only exception is Luigi's Polterpup and the ghosts he can tolerate (when they're friendly and not harassing him)._


	16. Ch 15: Dark Disclosure

_Disclaimer:_ _I still don't own anything but the plot and my OC, Myster Edge. Anyways, I hope you enjoy the chapter!_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _This chapter has been edited to clear things up on the number of Chaos Emeralds Myster Edge has up to this part of the story. If I caused any confusion, it has been updated for that reason._**

* * *

 **Chapter 15:** Dark Disclosure

 _Location: Vanilla Dome_ _ **(1)**_

It was cold, damp, and dark inside the grotto. However, there was sunlight that gleamed through a small opening of the cave wall and it beamed off some familiar faces.

"Oh, boy. I really hope Mario and Luigi are okay. I can't imagine what that horrible figure did to them."

"I'm with you on that. The night of the crash was unexpected. And to see Luigi like that, I couldn't bear the sight of him falling to his doom."

Those two voices came from none other than Princess Peach and Princess Daisy. Both ladies were detained inside this concealed prison with some bars blocking their path to escape. They weren't the only ones stuck in there. Cream was sitting and leaning against the wall as she held Cheese in her arms. Rouge and Blaze were pacing around in front of the rabbit and Chao. Toadsworth, Toadette, and Toad bundled up across from them to keep each other warm. Then, there's Amy, banging the cell door with her traditional mallet.

"AUGH! These bars are so strong! I can't even make a dent out of it!"

"No luck, huh?" Blaze walked up next to the pink hedgehog. "Man, this atmosphere is really bugging me. Being trapped in that bubble was bad enough."

"Not to be rude, but do you think you can stop with the noise? We're all starting to get a headache," complained Toad.

Amy turned to the Toad trio. "Sorry, guys. I can't break us out of here." She sighed unhappily. "I really hope Sonic and Tails got the brothers to safety. And I hope they're alright."

"I understand, Amy," Peach sympathized. "I'm sure our friends got out of there safely. It's Luigi I'm worried about most though, given the unexpected ambush used against him."

"I wonder how the rest of the gang is faring over there," Rouge thought as she glanced to the dungeon across from them.

Speaking of the others, they were also locked up, separate from the girls and the Toads. The captives caught a glimpse of Shadow and Knuckles trying to knock down the metal bars while Silver attempted telekinesis to pick the lock. Yoshi and Charmy were tracing in the dirt full of boredom. Vector and Espio leaned against the walls as they lacked motivation to try and set themselves free. Orbot and Cubot were pacing, or in their case hovering, to and fro. Beforehand, they tried to escape between the poles, but their heads were too thick to reach the outside.

In a nutshell, they were all stuck. Yoshi pointed out that they were in the Vanilla Dome, north of his homeland, after noticing the scent of vanilla within the cave world. However, they don't know where Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, or Colombo were.

"You guys might as well stop before you fatigue yourselves. I'm telling you, the cell door is impenetrable," Espio advocated to the hedgehogs and echidna.

"Ugh, damn it! I'm sick of being stuck inside this dank, dirty cave! I'm gonna give that shadow figure a busting when I get close to his face," panted Shadow.

The guys decided to stop and stepped away from the cell columns. As the prisoners mellowed, the robots heard a familiar voice.

"Hey, Orbot, do you hear something?"

"As a matter of fact, I do, Cubot. It sounds so familiar. And it's coming this way."

The prisoners happened to hear a faint voice, which got progressively louder and angrier as the figure moved closer to them.

"For the last time, I don't know where the rest of the Chaos Emeralds are! Besides, you should be looking for them under _my_ command! Not that cloaked shadow bum!"

"Isn't that Dr. Eggman?" Cream wondered as she sat up from the cold cavern floor.

"Unhand me, you foolish, robotic software!"

"Yep, it's Eggman," groaned Knuckles, recognizing the voice from that dirty comment.

"Apparently, he got captured by Edge, too. You don't hear that every day," Vector added.

"Way to point out the obvious," replied a sarcastic Orbot. "We discussed this back at the castle attack."

"Now that you brought up the attacks again, I wonder where Bowser is. We got separated from him when that evil shadow locked us up," Yoshi contemplated.

"I have no idea, but I'm glad he's _not_ with us! He could burn us to a crisp if one of us ticks him off!" bellowed Charmy.

Rouge went up to the bars to peek at the dungeon entrance. The others congregated near her as they were also curious of Eggman's appearance. She heard his complaints become gaudier than before. "What's he doing here anyway?"

"Other than being kidnapped, beats me," Cubot answered. "We haven't seen the boss for days!"

At that point, the two sets of prisoners saw a pair of large robots restraining both of Eggman's arms. The doctor remained in a struggling fit, attempting to free himself from their clutches.

"I repeat, unhand me, you bombarded buckets of bolts!"

Ignoring his raucous behavior, one of the robots turned to the prison to his left, featuring Shadow, Silver, and the others. Taking out a key, the robotic minion was about to insert the object into the door lock.

"Step back," he ordered. "Try to escape, and we will terminate you. Guaranteed."

The gang stepped back cautiously. The robot then unlocked the cell and opened the door. After that, the two androids tossed the mustached scientist onto the cavern floor.

"YAARRGH! Ooof!" Eggman grunted from his uncomfortable landing. And in a quick blink of an eye, the minions relocked the prison and headed back to the main headquarters.

Orbot and Cubot floated to their leader.

"Sir, are you alright?" Cubot asked as he and the latter helped him up.

"Does it look like I'm alright, you incompetent blockhead?! I just got electrocuted on the day that perpetrator ambushed my fortress, he stole my Chaos Emeralds, and he kept interrogating me on where the others were. But since he took control of my robots, they're doing his bidding and not mine. They should be looking for the emeralds for me, and ME ONLY! And I just got tossed into this cave, stuck with you imbeciles!"

Knuckles crossed his arms. "Okay, first off, the emeralds weren't yours to begin with."

Eggman growled under his breath. "Watch what you say, gullible enchilada."

"I'm an echidna, you idiot! And not once in my life was I ever gullible!" Everyone, including the girls from the opposing cell, shook their heads. They knew Knuckles was lying for his poor state of mind and lack of common sense.

Amy scoffed. "Yeah, well how about the time Eggman tricked you into the thinking Sonic and Tails had part of the Master Emerald, when they actually had two Chaos Emeralds?"

"And then you got into a fight only for Eggman to inexplicably come out of nowhere and steal them to power up the hideous water creature, Chaos?" Cream mumbled. ** _(2)_**

"Knuckles, denial's just a river in Africa. And that makes you look like an incoherent fool," Rouge teased.

"Will you three shut up?!" Knuckles shouted. "Grr, I'm gonna kill Sonic for sharing that to you!"

"Can you stop thinking about yourself and get back to the main point?" Blaze shifted her attention to the doctor who was back on his feet, dusting the dirt off his outfit. "So Eggman, what do you know so far?"

"Know about what, might I ask?"

"Is there anything about this Myster Edge figure we should know?"

"And why should I share this information to you?"

"All we know is that Edge has stolen the Chaos Emeralds and he needs all seven for something. He already has three: the two initially found at your base, and the one taken from Shadow," Princess Peach explained.

Daisy also spoke up. "So maybe he received some clues to where the other Emeralds are. If so, we can contact our friends."

"Maybe they have some sort of chance to take down that cloaked figure," Amy suggested.

"If this involves helping that snarky, blue rat, then count me out! I don't help anyone who are friends with him, that two-tailed fox, or your pudgy, little plumber bros!"

"Doctor, I hate to disagree with you here, but we need your assistance. Even though Sonic may be our enemy, he and his allies are probably our only hope to get us out of this mess," offered Orbot.

"This sounds weird, but I'm with Orbot on this one. We should get some information leaked out to our friends," proclaimed Vector.

"Please, Eggman," Cream implored. "Mr. Mario and Mr. Sonic should know where we are and what that evil guy is planning."

"Do it for us, will ya?" begged Yoshi.

"Chao Chao!" Cheese pleaded.

Everyone was desperate to get something from the doctor. Some of the small characters decided to use pouty faces with big, sad puppy eyes as their motive. All of this made him snap.

"DAAAH! ALRIGHT! I am aware of that stupid shadow's plan and I'll tell you. Just stop with the freaking puppy faces!"

"Okay, doctor, spill the beans," demanded Shadow, crossing his arms in front of his white-furred chest.

Robotnik gripped one of the metal poles for support as he began his speech.

"So, I assume that Orbot, Cubot, and I explained the basic details: I got electrocuted, he took the two Emeralds from my lair, etc. etc. I was unconscious when I woke up in this dark cave. In fact, I was in this cell a couple of days ago…

"Then, he transferred me to his main hideout and locked me up in a chair with chains around my wrists and ankles. That cloaked figure, Myster Edge, was asking too many questions about the locations of the remaining Chaos Emeralds that were dispersed throughout our home planet. He even asked me to work _for_ him! When I denied, he decided to shock me with increasing intensity. I don't know how the hell I managed to survive from all that…

"He was very suspicious of me. He thought that I was hoarding the others elsewhere, as if I was planning to make the brainwashed robots search aimlessly to waste his time on purpose. I kept true to my word and claimed that I don't know where they are."

"Are you 100% positive that you don't have the blue, green, or purple Emeralds with you, nor do you know their whereabouts?" Silver asked.

"Well actually, I happened to notice the purple Emerald in his scepter."

Shadow turned to the doctor. "Wait, you mean he has another one?"

"I saw it with my own two eyes. He stole the red and white ones I kept in my base, and it was floating along with the cyan one inside."

"You swear you're not lying?"

"That's the truth! Straight from the camel's mouth!"

"I believe you mean 'Straight from the horse's mouth'," Toadsworth interrupted.

"I don't have your time for your corrections, dirty mushroom top!" he shouted across the cave.

"Poppycock! Didn't your parents teach you to respect your elders? Why I ought to whack you to see what's wrong with that noggin of yours!"

"Toadsworth, calm down!" warned Toadette as she pulled back the cane from the elder. "Now's not the time to go insane!"

"Anyways, what else do you know?" asked Blaze.

"Hmm? Oh yeah… Um, during my interrogative sitting, I did manage to see something else off the corner of my eyes that seemed to possess powerful energy."

"What exactly is it? Is it the Master Emerald?" Rouge perked up.

"Pfft, in your dreams, Rouge. It's resting on Angel Island where it should be," Knuckles counteracted.

"Well you never know if he stole it as well! Maybe there's something wrong with _your_ noggin. After all, you are one gullible dolt," smirked the seductive bat.

"Would you shut the hell up?! I don't get easily deceived that often," denied the red echidna. He went up to the cell door and angrily threw his hands out as if he wanted to pull her into his knuckles, like a bunch of fan girls trying to grasp their favorite celebrity crush. Except in his case, he looked irritated to the point where he wanted to strangle her. "You're lucky that you're locked up in the other jail spot!"

Vector, Espio, Shadow, and Silver tried to pull him back to alleviate his temper. Yoshi, Orbot, Cubot, and Charmy cowered together as they were scared to see Knuckles heat up like that. Eggman facepalmed and grunted.

"To answer your question, no, neither he nor I stole the Master Emerald. But as I was saying, this object I saw was placed inside this powerful generator. The thing is, there were five separate fragments; all of them looked the same. And each one seemed to contain some type of dark energy."

"Hmm…" Princess Peach noticed her red-dotted retainer putting his hand on his chin, deep in thought.

"Is something wrong, Toad?"

The mushroom attendant turned to the royal lady. "Whatever the doctor described sounds so familiar to me. Where have I heard something like that though?"

Espio inquired for more information. "Do you know anything else about these… pieces you saw? What do they look like?"

"If I can remember, the fragments were purple. All of them were glistening with lightning sparks. Not only that, but I saw some strange white entities hooked up to the machine. Whoever they were, they seemed to absorb the power source from those pieces. And I overheard them talking about a moon… or something like that."

A sudden realization popped into Toad's head. He now knew what Robotnik was talking about. "Oh no!" he shrieked, getting everyone's attention.

"What's wrong?" Daisy asked.

"I think that villain broke the Dark Moon!"

* * *

 _Location: Edge's Headquarters_

Deep within the caves was Myster Edge's headquarters. He was lounging in a large, black chair in front of his special control room that the robots have built for him. Similar to Eggman's, he was overseeing the gigantic supercomputer and his multiple security cameras to spy on the captured victims inside their dungeons.

Edge smirked evilly as he shifted his glance to the four Chaos Emeralds that were floating in his scepter, including the purple gem Eggman described. To his benefit, his robot army sought throughout Mobius and found it outside the perimeter of the Mystic Ruins. After discovering it, one of the henchmen unlocked the warp pipe outside of Mobius' train station to deliver it personally. And now, the cloaked shadow has more than half of the priceless jewels. There's three more to find, but the antagonist was unaware that one of them was in the hands of the blue hedgehog.

"Myster Edge," a robot called from behind. It was the one who locked up Eggman with the other hostages. "The draining process is almost complete. The ghosts should be more powerful than ever."

"Excellent work, Alpha," answered Edge, sinisterly.

He rotated his chair to view the magnificent machine. At the top, five Dark Moon fragments were concealed in a glass dome with tubes connected to five separate capsules. All the containers were holding the five Possessor Ghosts: Grouchy, Harsh, Overset, Shrewd, and Tough. **_(3)_** The ghosts were immobile, but they were being fed with the negative energy of the pieces. Some of the robots and possessed ghosts were watching over the procedure, fascinated by the Possessors who started to glow purple.

"HAHAHA! These ghosts are becoming stronger by the second! Once they're done, I'll use the remaining corrupted energy to construct the Oblivion! All that is left is completing our collection of the Chaos Emeralds to relinquish this black hole. And all worlds will cease to exist!"

The cloaked scoundrel continued his evil laugh, but he was interrupted by Alpha.

"Excuse me, my liege."

Edge stopped his cackling and looked at his technological henchman. "What is it now?"

"I must inform you, there are supposed to be _six_ Dark Moon fragments, not five. Don't you need every single one?"

The villain raised an eyebrow. "Six, you say? Apparently, I wasn't keeping track of that. But that does not matter. We can work with what we have. The moon's power is sufficient to create the Dark Shards. By creating enough of these, the dark holes will ravage the skies and begin to grow, thus leading to their demises. We may not need every single Dark Moon piece, but the Shards will help me become more powerful than ever. Not only that, but we need the seven Emeralds to summon the Oblivion itself."

"But didn't you say we needed to keep the broken pieces separate from each other?"

"We will once the Possessors are fully powered up and when we have enough shards and all seven Emeralds, we can create the Oblivion. Eventually, I'll leave them the responsibility of holding the Dark Moon in various locations."

"Okay, but are you sure you don't need all six?" Alpha asked once more for confirmation.

"Who cares?" Edge smirked. "It's not like that pathetic green guy's gonna retrieve them all like before. If he tried to fight them, those ghosts will be more aggressive and harmful to possibly end his and his friends' games. And because of this, we don't have to worry about anyone ruining my master plan."

"If you say so, my lord. But I have one more question," the robot complied.

"And what is that?"

"Why are we keeping the other prisoners? What do they have to do with your plan?"

"Well initially, I was going to convert them into being my slaves. But since the fat doctor refused with his bitter attitude, the others will probably act accordingly like him. So instead, they'll be part of a test."

"A test?" Alpha asked with curiosity.

"A test to see if this guy can truly be a hero. And if he is, then he'll have to save them all. But that will be his top priority, so he'll be distracted. To our advantage, we can continue making the shards to call forth the Oblivion. And he will be too late to stop me, and too late to even achieve such a high status," he finished with an evil grin.

"Ah, now I see the whole picture."

"Yes. Everything is coming together. But like I said, our focus is to get the rest of the Emeralds as the Possessors take in more power into their ghostly figures. As for you and the other minions, head back to the dungeons and retrieve the captives. Separate them into groups and take them to my other dungeons. That way, we can buy more time as those heroes attempt to rescue their friends, but they'll have to traverse through multiple areas to actually find them."

"As you wish, Myster Edge. Ghosts! Robots! Follow me back to the caverns!"

With Alpha's command, a horde of Greenies, Slammers, and robots headed back to the double cells. As for Edge, he remained in his large chair, laughing maniacally at his progress.

* * *

"The Dark Moon?" Cubot questioned.

"I've never heard of anything like that," Orbot added.

"Me neither," said Silver.

"How is it possible to destroy a celestial body like that?" interrogated Shadow.

"Clearly, you don't remember the time Eggman destroyed half the moon back in our world," Knuckles replied. **_(4)_**

"What exactly is the Dark Moon?" asked Blaze.

Toad lectured the gang about the importance of the purple celestial body and the time Luigi had to travel to multiple mansions during his adventure. He explained that it was broken by King Boo, who ordered the ghosts to rule under his bidding, and gave the Possessor Ghosts the Dark Moon pieces to guard them. Luigi would have to use his Poltergust 5000 to fight inanimate or possessed objects to capture the bosses. He went through hell and back to collect the pieces, restore the moon, return the ghosts back to their hospitable state, and save his older brother.

"Wow, Luigi must be very brave to trek through so much ground and face so many dangers to get those ghosts back to normal," praised Vector.

"Yeah! That's so cool, finding ghosts and sucking them up with his vacuum! He's a professional ghost buster if you ask me!" exclaimed Charmy.

"It's astounding, but it was also very scary and uncomfortable for Luigi because of his fear of ghosts," Toad fretted. "I was more of a scaredy-cat than he was. I was more afraid that the ghosts would kill him, and he'd join their spirits!"

"Thankfully, Luigi was alright after saving Mario. But when he returned to the Mushroom Kingdom, he did look unstable for a week. Even though he's now used to the friendly ghosts in Evershade, he's still fearful of paranormal activity," Peach mentioned to the cellmates.

"Now, all we could hope for is Luigi and the others to save us and stop that scoundrel! But now that we know Edge's purpose for the Dark Moon, we can contact him about this," insisted Daisy as she pulled out her Mailbox SP.

"I never thought I would say this, but we appreciate your help, Eggman," thanked Amy.

Eggman scoffed. "Yeah, well… Don't bother asking me for information to help you again. That will be the last time!"

After Daisy texted her message to Luigi, the guys heard footsteps approaching the cavernous prisons. With a booming voice, the prisoners jumped.

"Inmates! LINE UP!" roared Alpha.

"What exactly is this? The military or a poor version of G.U.N.?" sneered Rouge.

"I said LINE UP! Or do you want to be terminated?"

They reluctantly did what they were told by his aggressive demand. Then, the robotic underling unlocked the left prison door. The Greenies were assigned to watch over Silver, Shadow, and the Chaotix. The Slammer ghosts took Knuckles, Yoshi, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot. Edge's robots oversaw the prisoners in the right dungeon, keeping them locked inside and making sure they don't escape.

"Aren't you gonna take us, too?" Peach queried the head robot.

"No. I'm here to separate the other prisoners from you guys. That way, there's less chatter going on around here." Alpha turned back to the ghosts. "Alright, boys. Take them to the cruiser! Don't let them get out of your hands."

"Wait, where are you taking us?" Yoshi panicked.

"None of your business, dino-breath! Now get moving!"

"Unhand us, you hooligans!" Espio shouted.

"Hey, watch the gold chains! They're worth a lot!" Vector screeched.

"Ow! How are you that strong for a ghost?! You're worse than those malfunctioned bots!" complained Eggman.

The Greenies and Slammers held down the prisoners as they boarded two separate large aircrafts, both with a black shadow insignia printed on the side. After they left, Alpha and his robotic crew looked back at the other captives.

"Now, you girls and mushroom people will stay here. I hope you don't mind rotting until Edge fulfills his needs."

Daisy growled. "Just you wait, nefarious bolt brain! Mario and his friends will kick your guys' asses and save us! And we can count on Luigi to capture those phony ghosts!"

Peach held her friend back. "Daisy, control yourself!"

"Like that green plumber stands a chance. He's a weak and easily frightened being. How do you even have confidence in him?"

Alpha's hurtful comments towards Luigi infuriated the flower princess. How dare does that robot try to humiliate her significant other? Peach was also offended by his remarks. Luigi was her best friend next to Daisy. But all she could do was worry for him, considering he was harmed by Myster Edge a few days ago, as well as think about Mario. Amy, Cream, and the rest of the Sonic gang still had their minds on Sonic and Tails. They hoped the two can help the Mario Bros. stop this madness.

"Have fun being trapped in here, not that you have a choice and can't do anything about it."

Alpha chortled loudly as he walked back to his boss' headquarters. The robot army then stood guard over the trapped victims as they were held in the cave against their wills. All they could do was sit and hope their heroes will come to their rescue.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _We finally got to see Eggman again, only for him to be gone…_ _ **again.**_ _Hopefully I made his humor up to par since he was absent since the end of Chapter 2. He reluctantly helped the other prisoners by sharing the details, to his knowledge, on Edge's scheme. Will the message to Luigi and the others get there in time before it's too late?_

 _Along with that, we know that the prisoners were originally caught in Vanilla Dome. Where do you think the ghosts took the other half? We'll return to Toadley Clinic to check up on the man in green. And we'll also revisit another character that hasn't been seen for so long._

 _As always, thanks for reading and please review!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Vanilla Dome is the third world found in_ _Super Mario World_ _. I chose this cave location as the resting spot for the kidnapped victims._

 ** _(2):_** _What Amy and Cream were explaining was the fight scene between Knuckles and Sonic in_ _Sonic Adventure_ _, which was one of many instances where the red echidna is known to be easily tricked. (Even though Cream technically wasn't found in_ _SA_ _, assume that Sonic told her about how stupid Knuckles can be.)_

 ** _(3):_** _These are the names of the five Possessors Luigi faced in his Dark Moon quest._

 _Fun fact: the first letters in their names in sequential order (by which they were fought and found) spells out the word 'GHOST'. That's a pretty cool detail Nintendo used in that game!_

 ** _(4):_** _Eggman made a threat to demolish the moon in_ _Sonic Adventure 2_ _. The Dark Moon wasn't the only celestial body that was destroyed!_


	17. Ch 16: The Strange Afterglow

_A/N:_ _First off, special shoutout to Tiger of Darkness for leaving me reviews and taking the time to read my story!_

 _Secondly, I made some edits in Ch. 12 to explain Colombo's sudden appearance with the gang, as well as describing some other details regarding Mario and Tails' injuries since I forgot about them. You don't have to reread everything, but I just wanted to put that out there._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _The plot, my OCs, and everything not related to Sonic and Mario are owned by me. Sega and Nintendo own the property of these franchises and their respective characters._

* * *

 **Chapter 16:** The Strange Afterglow

 _Location: Toadley Clinic_

Luigi felt horrible.

After arguing with his older brother earlier, he was cross, yet shameful for misbehaving in front of him, his friends, and his doctor. It was like some evil demon possessed his soul and forced him to act out of character. He couldn't explain why he ridiculed Mario like that. He was only looking after him to make sure his medical condition improved. It was more serious than the times Mario left Luigi at home to clean the house and, more importantly, be safe from danger.

Now, he was snoozing in the hospital bed after concealing himself from Mario, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo. Dr. Toadley and his medical team checked his status for various periods, but avoided starting any conversations given the awkward moment they experienced several hours ago.

It was five in the afternoon as he was resting in tranquility. A small breeze flew into the open window next to his bed. Luigi had to admit, the process worked. He felt relieved that some of his energy back, feeling better than before; that, and the 1-Up Delicacy he was offered as his lunch. His arms and legs have felt slightly better than before, the scars from the electric shocks started to heal, and his migraine alleviated. However, he wasn't 100% healthy and ready to be released from the hospital yet. At the very least, the only thing hooked up to him was a single IV stand to his left. He still had his bare chest bandaged up as well.

Nonetheless, his morale deteriorated because of his actions to quarrel with Mario, and he acted like an ass in front of everyone. He wanted to apologize, but he didn't know how. The guilt roamed his mind as he was asleep. Unbeknownst to the green-hatted patient, a special guest was about to arrive. In fact, _two_ guests showed up to surprise Luigi. One of whom was unexpectedly floating right in front of him. He didn't know until he opened his eyes.

* * *

Meanwhile, Sonic and Tails were outside on the hospital entrance steps waiting for a special visitor. As soon as they heard a vehicle approaching the building, the two waved at the driver who pulled up quickly in his Super Poltergust 3001. **_(1)_** It was none other than the professor.

"Professor E. Gadd! Great to see you again!" Sonic yelled.

"Ah, Sonic and Tails! Good to see you two as well," replied the elderly man.

"Thank goodness you got our emergency call," said Tails.

"Sorry I was running late. I had to fix some of my contraptions. Then I tried to get here as soon as I could," he added as he took off his helmet and locked his mobile vacuum. "Now let's head inside, shall we?"

The trio walked up the steps and passed through the automatic doors. Dr. Toadley's intern, who was maintaining the front desk, permitted the professor to see the man in green.

"We're glad you were able to see Luigi today. He sounded really desperate to see you," Tails faltered.

"However, we thought it was best for him to stay in bed since he awoke from his coma. He still seemed to be hurt from the attacks several days ago," Sonic recalled.

E. Gadd toyed with his eyeglasses as the three walked past a corner. "I'm more disappointed in myself for not realizing this news immediately. I only found about Luigi's incident from the news report. The poor chap…"

"Oh, so you saw the news report? Did you catch me and Tails?" he smirked.

Tails rolled his eyes and gave his friend an unamused look. "Sonic, that's not the main point."

"Oh, yeah. Sorry," he shrugged.

"Well to answer your question, I did take a gander at both of you. How is Luigi, by the way? He's up and running, isn't he?"

"He was awake at first after three days of not moving. But now, he's not too good. You see, after Luigi woke up, he got into a heated argument with Mario."

"An argument? About what, might I ask?"

"Luigi was determined to talk to you, professor. He told us about what he discovered in his nightmares," the fox answered.

"He's not dreaming about ghosts again, is he?" E. Gadd joked.

"No, it's even worse. Luigi 'telepathically' met with the villain who attacked him and learned some shocking news."

The professor switched to a serious tone when Tails mentioned this. "You mean about the Dark Moon?"

Sonic widened his eyes. "Wait, you know about the Dark Moon incident?"

The three stopped momentarily as they approached the elevators. Tails called for the transportation lift while E. Gadd discussed his explanation. "I'm always a step ahead to learn anything regarding my research on paranormal activities and ghosts. And plus, a fellow guest ran into my laboratory yesterday to tell me about this."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "And who visited you?"

"It was a Greenie ghost, one of the many inhabitants who resides in Evershade Valley, the same place where the Dark Moon shines above every night. Well, that is when it _isn't_ destroyed. And because of that, the ghosts become aggressive and cheeky to any innocent bystander who approaches them. They've handled with Luigi and gave him quite the spooks and tricks. Poor guy didn't recover until after he sucked up King Boo and rescued Mario."

Sonic was confused. "Hold on, wouldn't the Greenie be under control of Myster Edge since he made the moon collapse?"

"Not to be off-topic, but I reckon that this 'Myster Edge' fellow is the one who ambushed the Mushroom Kingdom and attacked Luigi? The one you mentioned in the news report?"

The hedgehog nodded. "Yeah, he also attacked our world as well. That villain managed to steal some of the Chaos Emeralds from back home."

"I see. But anyways, the ghosts are only affected if they are within range of the Dark Moon being shattered," explained the professor. "Those who aren't possessed must have been far away enough so the influence of the moon's disappearance didn't change their behavior. That is why the Greenie is still normal." **_(2)_** The elevator bell dinged, indicating the doors to open. As they stepped inside, Sonic pressed the button labeled '2' and the lift began its ascent to the second floor. "I also asked the friendly ghoul to meet me here and discuss more about this dilemma."

"Going back to what you said about the ghosts and them being mind-controlled, that's probably why Colombo was still normal. He wasn't anywhere near Evershade when Edge obliterated the Dark Moon. He's still been the same when we were waiting for Luigi to wake up," Tails concluded.

"Oh, that reminds me. Where is that playful Polterpup?"

"Mario's taking him out for a walk. He looked glum from his encounter with Luigi, and that was after he let out a lot of steam. He told us he needed some time to himself," replied Sonic.

"Hmm… I'm not too worried about the Mario Bros. They are family to each other and it's understandable that they have conflicts and fight amongst themselves every now and then. Soon enough, I bet the two will want to apologize for the mistakes they've made," the professor spoke confidently.

"I sure hope so. I don't like it when Mario and Luigi fight. It reminds of the times where Sonic and I had our own arguments," Tails muttered.

"But you still made up for all of your disagreements and troubles, right?" Tails nodded at E. Gadd's question while Sonic mentally agreed. "So even though it's normal that your lives are never perfect and you may end up fighting with each other, that's the way life is. There will always be problems, but you gotta figure out how to solve them. And usually, the situation gets resolved. If it doesn't, well let's just say that you can't always be mad at your friends or family. It might take some time for the brothers to make up."

As Sonic and Tails hoped for the best from what the professor said, the elevator reached its destination. The doors opened and the three walked out to the corridor to find Luigi's room.

"Luigi's admitted in Room 206. It's a couple rooms down this hallway," Sonic pointed as they guided E. Gadd.

"But we should stay quiet, just in case he's sleeping or still stressed out from this morning," warned Tails.

"I've told that Greenie to meet me here, but I don't see the little rascal anywhere, not even at the entrance. Have you seen him by any chance?" E. Gadd whispered.

Sonic and Tails shook their heads, but suddenly, the three heard a loud shriek coming from Luigi's room.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

The guys knew where that scream came from. Several doctors and nurses down the hallway popped their heads up towards the sound with faces of concern.

"Heh, I think Luigi found him," Tails awkwardly chuckled.

"More like the ghost found Luigi," Sonic murmured.

"Oh, criminy! I've specifically told him not to spook Luigi. Guess I'm gonna have to give him a punishment later."

"How the hell do you reprimand a ghost?" Tails asked with bewilderment.

"Easy! You suck 'em up!" Gadd declared. The Mobian animals dropped a bead of sweat at his answer. "With a vacuum, of course! What were _you_ thinking?"

"Uhh…" they both stuttered.

"Oh, never mind! We should head inside now!"

* * *

Mario was outside behind the clinic with Colombo. He was given permission by Dr. Toadley that he could walk and take the dog out for some fresh air, but was told to stay close within the vicinity. An intern was also sent to look over the red patient in case anything major happened to him. As Mario held the leash attached to the Polterpup's red collar, he strolled through the flower fields with a face of grief. He still hasn't forgotten about his argument with Luigi that morning, and every passing minute made him feel worse. He let out an exasperated sigh.

 _"Why did I have to say that stuff to Luigi? I'm supposed to be his supporting brother, not an overprotective father. And now he's mad at me. I just wished he understood my point, yet I also wished I talked to him calmly."_

Colombo was sniffing around the planted Ice and Fire Flowers before noticing the mustached man was unintentionally tightening the grip on the leash. He tugged the rope slightly to gain his attention.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Colombo."

The Polterpup whimpered, wondering what Mario was trancing about.

"Don't worry about me. I'm fine, honest."

Colombo growled as he had a feeling the plumber was lying. His instincts were pinned to the fight he had with Luigi.

Mario sighed in defeat. "Okay, I'm not fine. You happy?"

Slowly, the ghost dog walked up to Mario and sadly nudged his head on his leg. Mario cautiously kneeled down, trying not to strain his bandaged chest. He scratched Colombo's head as he apologized again.

"Sorry, Colombo. I still feel bad for treating Luigi with the way I acted. I shouldn't be aggressive and overpowering when he's my younger bro. And yet, I just shoved him into another state of depression."

Just then, Colombo noticed something from afar. He barked to gain Mario's attention.

"BARK! BARK!"

"Huh? What is it boy?"

Colombo howled towards the strange thing he spotted. Mario looked in his direction and noticed the entity. Beyond the distance was a mechanical robot flying over the outskirts of Toad Town.

"It seems to be heading to the south, towards Yoshi's Island," noticed Mario. "But wait, we don't have robot inhabitants in our world."

As he raised an eyebrow, the Polterpup looked up to the red-hatted man, tilting his head with confusion.

"It's peculiar that a robot is in our dimension when they're usually in… Sonic's world…" Mario's apparent realization sparked in his head. "That robot must have came from Sonic's world via the warp pipe! But if that's the case, then… he must have a Chaos Emerald!" he exclaimed.

As Colombo heard Mario's explanation, his instincts kicked in as he tugged the leash in the direction of the robot's path, growling as he despised the evil mech. But Mario firmly held back.

"Whoa, slow down! Don't you think we should inform Sonic and Tails of this?"

Colombo took a while to realize that was probably a good idea. But before he could respond, the two heard a loud scream from the open window of Room 206.

"AAAAAHHHH!"

The plumber and ghost dog whipped their heads to the loud shriek and noticed it came from Luigi's room.

"Oh no! What happened to him now?! Come on, Colombo! We gotta back to Weegie, fast!"

They made their way back to the advising intern who led them inside the hospital. Right now, Mario was shaking as he thought something worse than a coma has affected his younger sibling.

* * *

The hedgehog, the fox, and the professor ran into Room 206 to see what made Luigi scream. And the answer was floating in front of the patient.

"Hey! What did I tell you about scaring Luigi?!" scolded E. Gadd.

The entity whipped his face to the professor's voice and became spooked that he shrieked and ran into the wall as his body vibrated like a gong being struck. **_(3)_** After regaining his composure, he shook his head and floated up to the professor. Meanwhile, Luigi was still eye-widened as he was sitting upright after his unexpected wake-up call. Sonic and Tails walked up to their immobilized friend.

"You alright, Luigi?" asked Sonic.

"If you consider waking up from a long nap and having a ghost spook the shit out of you as 'alright', then I'm having the best time of my freaking life," replied Luigi sardonically.

The Greenie floated back to the patient and apologized, speaking in his ghoulish language. Although he didn't speak English, Professor E. Gadd translated his thoughts.

"Zephyr here was supposed to accompany me at the hospital, but I told him to run ahead of me since I was busy with my enhancements. **_(4)_** Instead of waiting in front of the hospital, he impatiently floated from room to room to find you, sonny boy. He apparently had something important to show to you. And when he found your room, well, we all know what happened after that. Zephyr says he's sorry. He wasn't intending to scare you."

Luigi sighed and forgave the Greenie. "You're forgiven, Zephyr. But the next time I'm sleeping, please don't show up three inches from my face." The green ghost nodded back in response.

"So what is this thing you wanted to show Luigi?" Tails asked in front of Zephyr.

The Greenie made an indicative sound to answer the fox's question. Pulling from his… 'ghostly pocket', he revealed a spectacular piece of a major artifact in his hands.

Luigi instantly bulged his eyes wide open. "What the?! Is that a fragment of the Dark Moon?!"

"Criminy! It is indeed!" confirmed E. Gadd.

"So that's what one of those pieces look like. Damn, it's glowing with sparks!" Sonic pointed out.

"Certainly, this is one of the broken fragments of the celestial body. Thankfully, Zephyr didn't become mind-controlled from the impact," E. Gadd mentioned as he joined the Mobian creatures next to Luigi's bed. "Assumingly, that Edge figure you referred to must have caused the moon to collapse into six separate elements, just like how King Boo destroyed it in the first place."

"Please tell me that King Boo isn't out of his painting _again_. You know what happened the last time when you were inattentive with your knickknacks and gadgets," Luigi moaned.

"I'm sure that he's well put in his prison where he belongs," assured E. Gadd as he flicked his hand like it was nothing. "Besides, I don't make that many mistakes."

"You sold his original portrait in a garage sale," Luigi reminded with a hint of annoyance. **_(5)_**

"Ehh, let's not get into the details of _that_ discussion."

"Don't you think it's a bit dangerous for someone like Zephyr to hold a piece of what makes him hospitable?" Tails inquired.

"Hmm, you might have a point there, young fox. Here, Zeph. Hand me the Dark Moon piece," E. Gadd requested.

The Greenie transferred the glowing purple piece to the professor who scrutinized its corrupted appearance.

"Out of curiosity, how did he find this piece?" Sonic wondered.

The ghost spoke in his inherited language to explain. And as usual, E. Gadd deciphered his quote.

"So initially, he saw the shadow figure about to destroy the Dark Moon in the sky above Evershade Valley. As he evacuated the region, he was far away enough to avoid being paralyzed under the influence of the moon collapsing. As he floated away, he intended on seeking me for help, so he set off for Boo Woods. And along the way, he encountered this Dark Moon piece in his travels!"

"But where did he find it?" Luigi thought.

The professor paraphrased the Greenie's story. "He located this fragment just outside of Toad Town as he headed towards my lab. When he came by, he discussed about the scene he witnessed and wanted to find Luigi. That was when I got your distress call, Sonic and Tails. You told me that Luigi was hospitalized, but needed to see me. I still had to make some modifications to my inventions before I could set off, so I asked Zephyr to meet me in front of the Toadley Clinic. And now, here we are in this tight dilemma. We do have a piece of the Dark Moon, but who knows where the other five are?"

Just then, Luigi's 3DS, sitting on his bedside dresser, vibrated as it played a notification sound. Luigi reached for his portable device from the bed.

"I'm surprised that your present didn't get destroyed when you fell, Luigi," remarked Tails.

"Well, I made sure that thing's both indestructible and waterproof. It's the perfect type of communicator!" exclaimed the professor.

"Still, it's bulkier and not as simple as our wrist communicators. Besides, we don't have to store them in pockets, or fur in our case," Sonic retorted.

Luigi ignored his friends and opened up the dual screen device. Navigating the main menu, he skimmed through the most recent message he received.

"I just got an email from Daisy!"

"Really? What does it say?" asked the Blue Blur.

Luigi read aloud the message sent by the flower princess.

…

 _Dear Luigi,_

 _As you may know, we've been kidnapped by that nasty villain, Myster Edge, and have been secluded in a dark cave. According to Yoshi, we seemed to be held inside the Vanilla Dome. And we have uncovered even worse news._

 _While stuck inside our prison, Dr. Eggman was taken here after being interrogated by Myster Edge. He told us a generalized idea on what that shadow figure has been planning. And that includes the Dark Moon. From what he said, there were five fragments hooked up to a machine. He explained that their power was being drained and transferred into the five white figures who were inside some capsules. We don't know too much, but Toad concluded that the Dark Moon had collapsed and the white entities were the Possessor ghosts you've seen before. But chances are that they're more powerful than the versions you fought in the past._

 _Eggman also found out that he now has_ _ **four**_ _of the Chaos Emeralds. Apparently one of his brainwashed robots found the fourth one for him. That's all we know so far. If we can uncover anything else from Edge's minions or from himself, I'll email you again._

 _Everyone seems to be in solitude, unharmed yet uncomfortable in this dank cave. Everyone who was at the party is with me as well: Peach, Yoshi, and all of our friends. And then there's Eggman and his two robot henchmen, of course. Don't worry about us. Believe me, we're all more worried about you. If you're with Mario, Sonic, and Tails, then hopefully you're doing fine. I'm sorry that your birthday ended horribly. None of us expected this to happen. Please take care and I hope you recover soon._

 _-Princess Daisy-_

…

"That's what she wrote," finished Luigi.

"Hmm, that does not sound good at all. If Edge has five of the six Dark Moon pieces and they're being drained off to the ghosts, I can't imagine the chaos they may create in our world," E. Gadd ruminated.

"At least we have one of them. If he had all six, that would probably be disastrous," Tails complied.

"Well, we kind of get why he needed the Dark Moon. He wants to take control of the ghosts like he did with Egghead's robots. And he seems to need the Chaos Emeralds to summon the Oblivion, or whatever Luigi said. And that the fact that he has more than half of them is dangerous to think about. We gotta stop him somehow," contemplated Sonic.

"Should you clean off that dark power, Professor?"

"Ahh, I'm glad you mentioned that, Luigi! You see, I was tinkering with an invention something similar to my Energy Suppressor. **_(6)_** Only this one is portable!"

Reaching into the pocket of his lab coat, E. Gadd pulled out a small box with a red button. Pushing the contraption with his finger, the device unfolded and revealed a Mini Energy Suppressor. He set down the invention on the other end of the bed near Luigi's feet and placed the Dark Moon on top of the turntable. Instantly, four small dusters popped out of each side of the box and cleaned off the electrical interference of the violet fragment as it spun around. In a matter of seconds, the piece glowed brightly in its natural form, restored from its negative appearance. After the cleaning process, Elvin grabbed the piece off the Suppressor. The dusters contracted back into the open flaps and the mechanism reduced itself to a small box.

"Wow, E. Gadd! Your inventions never fail to amaze me! I don't know how you come up with these technological advances!" praised Tails.

As he dropped the box in his pocket, the professor couldn't help but chuckle at the fox's compliment. "Hohoho, thank you, Tails! I always come prepared for dire situations. And how convenient was it that I brought this little tool with me."

Sonic was also impressed by the invention. "Nice job, Professor! Well, that's one piece down, and…"

Suddenly, he got interrupted when he felt something strange in his quills.

Tails saw something shining and reacted to it. "Sonic, the Chaos Emerald!"

The hedgehog pulled his hand back and took out the yellow gem that he hid. And what happened surprised everyone. Both the Emerald and the Dark Moon piece shined brightly in front of their eyes. "Whoa!" he flinched.

"Huh?! W-what's happening?" shouted Luigi.

"I don't know!" Tails yelled back.

"Criminy! I've never seen the Dark Moon react like this!" exclaimed E. Gadd.

"I've seen some questionable stuff from the Chaos Emeralds, but this is crazy!" added Sonic.

Then, both the gem and the fragment rose from their hands, floated high in the air, and spun in circles. While circulating above the party, their powers started to emanate and construct a large orb of energy inside their state of motion. Luigi, Sonic, Tails, E. Gadd, and Zephyr were completely confused, yet shocked at this strange occurrence. Just before anyone could react, the orb glided over to the characters.

First, it hovered over Zephyr. Next, it shifted above E. Gadd. Followed by Tails. Then Sonic. When it got to Luigi though, it remained still above his head. Luigi raised his eyebrows as his mouth was agape. Wondering what happened next, he soon got his answer. The powerful ball shined bright once more causing the others to shield their eyes with their arms. And then, the orb dove right into Luigi's body. His eyes were widened, somewhat in a trance, and his body glowed as he felt rejuvenated and stronger than he was before being awakened by Zephyr. The others looked at him as he was stuck in a paralyzed state. A few seconds later, the light dissipated and the room went back to normal. The Dark Moon piece and the yellow Chaos Emerald fell onto the bed as the objects returned to their original forms.

A moment of silence struck Room 206. Sonic was the one to break the silence. "What… the… hell was that?"

"Beats me," replied Tails. "I wasn't expecting anything like that to happen."

"This is far more interesting than what I've seen from my paranormal findings. This is absolutely extraordinary," commented the professor, to which the Greenie agreed as he spoke in his language.

Sonic turned to Luigi, whose eyes were still glued to the wall in front of him as if he was staring blankly into space. "Hey, Luigi? Luigi? You okay?" he asked, waving his gloved hand in front of him.

Luigi blinked his eyes twice before turning to his right to see his friends, furrowing their brows in worry. "I… I don't know what just happened. But that strange energy… It made me feel… alive, and full of energy… if that makes sense."

"Does that mean you can walk?" wondered the twin-tailed fox.

"Only one way to find out."

Carefully minding the IV stand still hooked up to his shirtless arm, he pulled off the covers and shifted his legs to the opposite edge of the bed with ease. He held the rolling stand and dragged it along as he walked past the window and around the bed. Now, he was standing in front of everyone in the middle of the room. The others widened their eyes in shock at this discovery, but started to form smiles on their faces to see the man in green up and about, and healthy too. In return, Luigi curved his lips into a smile of his own, feeling proud of his unexpected recuperation.

Later, the guys all heard a voice from the doorway. "Well would you look at that?" They turned to the entrance and noticed Dr. Toadley. Behind the Toad doctor was his intern, Mario, and Colombo. "Why, I was about to check up on you and suddenly you're standing strong and tall!"

Mario made his way into the room and looked at Luigi in surprise. "Luigi! You're okay!" He ran up to his younger brother and hugged him. Luigi was slightly surprised to see Mario, but he was glad to see his older sibling and returned the embrace.

When Mario released the hug, the two both looked at each other in the eyes and changed their facial expressions from happiness to regret.

"I'm sorry…" they said concurrently. "I am… Well…" they continued to repeat each other's words before Mario spoke up.

"No, Luigi. I'm sorry I made you feel depressed again. I shouldn't have been overprotective of you and act superior over you. I should have reconsidered your needs when you wanted to help our friends. And I didn't mean to make you cry or feel like you're not wanted. It's just that…"

Luigi interrupted him and put his hands on his shoulders. "Mario, Mario… it's okay. I understand you, and I forgive you. I'm sorry as well. I was a big jerk when I yelled at you. You were looking over me for my health and safety and I failed to realize that. Besides, you've been doing that for the past 26 years and I appreciate your support. I had no reason to act like that."

The red-capped man frowned in sadness. "Luigi, I hope I didn't hurt you emotionally."

"Mario, you're fine. I'm fine. I mean, look at me! I'm standing in front of you."

"Yeah, I see," Mario chuckled and looked up to him with a large grin. "I'm so glad you're back."

Luigi mirrored his smile. "Same here, bro."

After their reconcilement, they hugged each other once more. Everyone was glad that the Mario Bros. were back to reconstruct their brotherly bond. As they broke away, Colombo ran up to his owner and leaned his front paws on Luigi's legs. He picked up the Polterpup and laughed as he started to lick his face. Meanwhile, Sonic walked up to his red-hatted friend and hung his arm around his neck and over his right shoulder.

"I'm glad you two made up from your fight. So how are you feeling now, Mario?"

"After what I saw, better than ever, Sonic," he replied happily. "But I do have to wonder… What the heck did I miss? Why is Professor E. Gadd here? And how did Luigi even recover that quickly?"

"Well, bro, it's quite a long story. We might as well tell you from the beginning," his brother responded.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Alright! Luigi is up and running and repaired his bond with his brother! We will return to these guys as they explain to Mario the conspiring events before he came into the scene. And then, the heroes must decide what their next approach should be now that Luigi is healthy._

 _Thanks for reading this chapter! Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see in the next one!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _The Super Poltergust 3001, originally found in_ _Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga_ _, is the upgraded version of the Poltergust 3000 Luigi used in his first mansion adventure. Designed by E. Gadd, he uses this as a vehicle to travel at high speeds. (It's not as fast as Sonic though.)_

 ** _(2):_** _Remember the Greenie who escaped Evershade Valley in Chapter 7? Yeah, I decided to give him a key role during the second half of the chapter. For this note, I let E. Gadd explain the situation of the Dark Moon and the reason why he and Colombo were unchanged from Edge's ambush. (This is unconfirmed; I made up this theory.)_

 ** _(3):_** _I took this gag from one of the Greenies during the first mission in_ _Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon_ _. After being revealed from a shower, the Greenie got spooked and '_ _bumped' into the wall as a joke._

 ** _(4):_** _Just like I did with the Polterpup, I gave the Greenie ghost a name to distinguish him._

 ** _(5):_** _In_ _Dark Moon_ _, the professor may have accidentally admitted that he sold King Boo's original painting at a garage sale. If that's the case, it led to Luigi's second ghost hunting quest. Oh, E. Gadd…_

 ** _(6):_** _Also seen in the game, the cleaning mechanism was utilized to purify the Dark Moon pieces since they were tarnished with dark energy after being broken. It didn't have an official name so I gave it one._


	18. Ch 17: Words of Encouragement

_A/N:_ _Thank you guys for being patient on the update. I've written two more chapters to be ahead after dealing with a stressful week. Now I got the rest of the month to complete my spring semester._

 _Like before, I made some edits from the previous chapter to fix any mistakes for grammar, paragraph breaks, dialogue, or anything that was off. One major thing I should note is that I went back to edit Chapters 15 & 16 because I wanted to rewrite/add some extra dialogue to avoid a discrepancy. The issue is based on the number of Chaos Emeralds that Edge has (4) vs. the number everyone thought he had (3). To avoid any confusion, I changed it to make sure that everyone is aware that the antagonist has four Emeralds._

 _Finally, not including the last update,_ _Hidden Bravery_ _has received over_ _ **2000 views**_ _! I want to thank everyone for taking the time to read my story. I've been writing this piece for 3 ½ months, and there's still more to come! If you haven't already, be sure to favorite and follow this fanfiction for more chapter updates. And don't hesitate to leave a review; any constructive criticism is fine by me. Anyway, let's move on with the adventure!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _As usual, the story and my OCs belong to me. Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, and the other characters are owned by Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 17:** Words of Encouragement

"So that's why you called the Professor over to the hospital. And now I know why Luigi is fully recovered, thank goodness. But what do you mean that the Dark Moon piece and the Chaos Emerald combined their powers? How is that possible?"

After the gang explained the whole scene from E. Gadd arriving at the hospital to the brotherly reunion, Mario understood the story, but pondered over the strange occurrence. What baffled him was the fact that the strong force of the emerald from Sonic's world merged with the strong source of the purple fragment from his dimension. Since these objects originated from different areas, why did they react in such a way? And why did the powerful energy specifically targeted Luigi?

As the sun began to set behind the hills of Toad Town, he continued to mull over this as he was sitting in the wooden chair. Professor E. Gadd occupied the other seat to his left, Zephyr was floating in midair beside the short man, Sonic and Tails were back on the couch on his right, and Luigi and Colombo were sedentary on the edge of the bed in front of him.

Because of his quick healing, the IV stand was detached from the younger plumber's arm, his bandages were removed, and his body looked like it was untouched. He remained in his blue scrub bottoms and green hat as the gang were discussing the current impasse.

"It seemed peculiar to see the two just floating there and suddenly combining their powers into one. Then, it just healed Luigi in a snap. But we still don't know why that happened," said a perplexed Tails.

"Secondly, we know that Edge has four Chaos Emeralds, the other five moon fragments, and has held our friends in Vanilla Dome, wherever that is," added Sonic as he tossed the yellow Emerald in his right hand.

Mario had a sudden realization. "Oh, I almost forgot. When I was taking Colombo outside, he detected a flying robot heading towards that same area. It makes sense, because we think he's heading towards Edge's hideout."

Sonic caught the emerald and enlarged his eyes. "Wait, you saw a robot _here_?"

"Right. And because the only danger we usually have is Bowser and his Koopas, it must have come from your world, Sonic. But the only way he would have got here…"

"…Is by having a Chaos Emerald to unlock the pipe!" he finished Mario's theory.

"Exactly. So if that robot is heading to Myster Edge, then he should have at least five emeralds while we have only one. Who knows if his slaves have found the last one by now? He could be that close to calling the Oblivion." **_(1)_**

"This situation just got interesting. By the way, where is the Vanilla Dome you mentioned earlier?" interrogated Tails.

"The Vanilla Dome is just north of Yoshi's Island," explained Luigi. "Mario and I were vacationing there at one point before Bowser kidnapped Peach again and kept the Yoshis concealed in eggs. We befriended him and his dinosaur pals to travel through the nearby worlds and rescue her."

"I don't know why he decided to keep our friends there, but it is a lead to find them again," said Sonic.

Mario determinedly stood up from his chair. "And that should be our first starting point. We're gonna go to Vanilla Dome and save them."

"Are you fully healed by any chance, sonny boy?" asked E. Gadd, clutching the Dark Moon piece in his lap.

"Well, I've gotten better over the last three days. My calf muscle feels normal, the chest has stopped bleeding, and this headache has rolled away from my noggin."

"That's a relief. Because I would start being confrontational if _you_ were not fully healed," Luigi joked.

"Hey, don't pull the sick card on me," Mario sulked. "You were in worse condition and I was scared for you since you got stuck in that coma."

"I was just being facetious," Luigi defended.

"Guys, let's get back to business," demanded Sonic.

"Says the guy who asks people if they saw his face on television," Tails muttered. Sonic gave his friend a rough nudge with his left elbow. "Ow!"

"That's what you get for back-sassing me."

"Boys, that's enough." Everyone turned to the elderly man who had a serious look hidden behind his glasses. "Either you guys will stop fooling around, or get back on track. I thought you gentlemen would be a bit more mature."

"Sorry, Professor," they all said together.

"That's more like it. Now, Luigi and Mario, until Dr. Toadley gives you permission to be excused from your previous injuries, you two should fetch new clothing and freshen up. Afterwards, I suggest we all head to my lab. Then-"

As Mario sat back down, he interrupted E. Gadd's speech. "I'm sorry Elvin, but why do you want us to congregate at your garage?"

"It's for the same reason why I asked Luigi to gear up from his previous adventures," he smirked.

Luigi had a bad feeling on where he was going. "Oh no," he groaned. "You don't mean it, do you?"

"I want you guys to be prepared to fend off those ghosts and robots. Because of Luigi's expertise on ghost catching, I will deem him as the primary hunter. And with you guys being the tough fighters you are, I know you can take them down!"

"I was afraid you were going to say that," he complained, shaking his head.

"What's wrong with that, Luigi? Nothing beats kicking ass against some robots like Tails and I do every time we face Egghead! You and Mario always trounce your enemies as well, so it's the same thing!" Sonic emphasized, trying to boost up Luigi's determination.

"Sure, you'll have to capture those ghosts again to teach 'em a lesson. But you're the most experienced ghost hunter I know! Well, you are the _only_ ghost hunter I know. Still, I'm confident in your abilities, Luigi!" chimed E. Gadd.

"I mean, we will also have to deal with another powerful figure like Bowser, but if we team up like we have in the Olympics and gather our friends, I'm positive we'll take victory and prevent Edge from destroying all the worlds!" chanted Tails.

Luigi gazed toward his bare feet, looking slightly upset. Both Colombo and Zephyr observed his facial expression as it was a mixture of discomfort, dismay, and indecisiveness. The Greenie hovered to Luigi's right as he communicated with his ghostly linguistics. The Polterpup let out a confused whine as he tilted his head, trying to read his owner's face.

Mario caught on to the ghosts' concern. "Luigi, is something wrong?" Sonic, Tails, and E. Gadd also spotted the troubled look on their friend's face.

Luigi glanced at his brother, still in his sleeveless hospital gown and red cap. He turned his gaze back down to his feet without responding. Instead, he took in a deep breath and exhaled through his large, plump nose.

"Luigi?" Mario repeated his name.

"I… I'm afraid," he spoke softly that no one heard him at first.

"What was that?"

Luigi looked up again and locked eyes with his older twin. "I'm afraid…" he reiterated in a louder tone.

Sonic raised an eyebrow. "Afraid? Of ghosts again? You've dealt with Colombo and Zephyr. And you've caught many of them in your previous journeys. What's so different about this one?"

Luigi turned to the hedgehog sitting in the far seat of the couch. "It's not just the ghosts, or the fact that the others are possessed and possibly more powerful than before, Sonic. I'm afraid of… this whole deal with the worlds being destroyed. Yes, ghosts are part of the problem, but there's more than just that."

"Can you elaborate on what else you're worried about?" Tails asked as he wanted his friend to go on. Luigi let out a disgruntled, long exhalation as he told his juxtaposed story.

"Ever since my nightmare, since Edge called my name that I was important to this prophecy, or whatever the hell he has planned, it brings me back nightmares of the time I was chosen to be the soul proprietor of all dimensions being lost or survived from a huge cataclysm. It was the time when Mario, Peach, Bowser, and I were the four heroes of the Light Prognosticus to stop Count Bleck, the wielder of this prophecy known as the Dark Prognosticus, who created the Chaos Heart to summon the Void. If you knew more about our perilous adventure, you can say that the Void is similar to the Oblivion that Edge mentioned. It would be a large black hole that will eat up every single human being, living thing, anything that these worlds contain…

"And for Edge to say that I will be the reason for fulfilling his plan, it makes me shudder to think it could be the same fate as our time with the Void that was threatening our worlds. Because I was the one who determined if the heroes will prevail or cause everyone to die. After Mario defeated me in my mind-controlled persona and Dimentio, a former follower of the Count who betrayed him and his other minions, the Count sacrificed his life with his lover, Timpani. The two were inseparable since they met and they finally reunited after the heartbreak and years they've toiled looking for each other. Turns out the Count wasn't purely evil because he missed the one he loved. But going to back to the Void, they seemed to cease to exist to get rid of the black hole using the power of love. And as much as we miss both of them and the worlds were safe from destruction, I distanced myself from everyone since then. Because my guilt keeps building on the inside…

"I look back at the time when I was Mr. L, when I used to be one of Count Bleck's subordinates when he was still bent on the end of all worlds. I was tasked to actually _prevent_ Mario from collecting the Pure Hearts and save the day like the fearless hero he is. By the time I reunited with my bro in my regular self, I was confused, lost, and terrified that I couldn't remember anything beforehand. My memory was drawing a blank up until I found out about my secret identity when Dimentio used me to attack Mario and his friends. From there, I thought to myself that I was the reason why everything and everyone would have perished forever. I blamed myself for going against Mario and Peach like that; I would even say the same for Bowser, despite our history…

"And that's why I feel this way. I'm frightened that I'm going to do the same thing to all of you. I'm scared that I'm going to suddenly turn against your backs and betray everyone to help Edge with his scheme. If not, then the other thing I'm fearful of is being behind everyone else. I'd be the klutz to trip over a small rock and everyone would be annoyed of my ineptness. I'd be the idiot to not understand what to do or fail to complete a simple task. I'd be the coward to hold back from a fight, because… I'm afraid I'm not capable of defending myself or fighting for freedom, or anything contributive to me or my friends. I'm not strong, belligerent, or brave enough to be a hero like you guys. I'm nothing but a pushover, a pacifist, and a loser… Just like he told me…" **_(2)_**

Mario, Sonic, Tails, E. Gadd, Zephyr, and Colombo were appalled at Luigi's discourse. It seemed somewhat surprising that he brought up the Count Bleck story (being a trip down memory lane for the brothers while everything seemed new to the rest of them), but they weren't expecting Luigi to degrade himself from his long speech. What's more disturbing is that he didn't appear regretful for saying those insults because he seemed that everything that was told about his character was true. The invectives from Edge have stuck to Luigi's mind since his epiphany, and he thought that he wasn't worth living due to him being a 'pathetic human being'.

That was when Mario had enough of Luigi's downside. He got up from his seat again, stood a foot in front of his brother, still perched on the bed's edge, and gripped both of his shoulders. Luigi didn't bear to look up to his older sibling.

"Luigi, please look at me. I'm begging you because I want to say something to you. There's nothing wrong with you. It's about the words you said." Reluctantly, the green-hatted plumber lifted his face to catch his brother staring sympathetically at him within the corner of his eyes. "Listen to me. Back then, it was never your fault in the first place. You were brainwashed at the time Dimentio summoned and forced you to merge with the Chaos Heart. You didn't willingly join him because you wanted to. And besides, we defeated him and brought you back to normal. So you didn't destroy the worlds. We saved them and you, too."

"That doesn't mean I wasn't responsible for causing havoc. I tried to hurt you and Peach. I almost killed everybody."

"You were _brainwashed_ , Weegie…"

"I STILL TRIED TO HURT YOU!" After his sudden outburst, the guys shifted back slightly in their seats while the ghosts moved away from the man. Mario remained in his standing position, but he removed his hands off his body. Luigi started shaking in his spot. He let his head down as he shivered and released a tear. "I'm sorry…"

Mario continued to comfort him. "Luigi, mio fratello, it's okay. But you should forget about the past. What matters is that the world was safe at the time and you're still here. And I don't want you to say those things because they're false. You're one of the bravest people I know. I learned that from experience when you were by my side. I understand why you always loathed fighting. I can see why you can be scared for certain reasons. But that does not make you a loser."

"I'm still pathetic. Probably worse than the Toads."

"Weege," Mario let out a heavy snort. "You are _not_ pathetic. Despite all the troubles you've been through, all the stuff that has been said about you, you are still one of the best people I know to heart. You are courageous in your own way, and no one should tell you otherwise. When I said that stuff to you when you returned, I regretted it when I realized that I hurt your feelings. And it pains me to see you think so negatively about yourself."

"What else can I say? I'm…"

"Luigi, don't even start that again." Mario spoke gruffly. "You are one of us. You are a hero in my eyes, and I'm positive our friends think that way, too. So what if others don't agree? So what if they don't see the bravery that's hidden inside you? That doesn't mean you should conceal yourself from the outside. You need to come out of the shadows and prove that you can deal with difficult situations. And you have done that on your own willpower, unexpectedly or not. When you faced Bowser and the Koopalings outside of the castle, you didn't show any mercy, did you?" Luigi shook his head at his question. "And did you back down from your fight against Jr.?"

"I didn't. I persevered. But then Edge made me look like a weakling."

"That's because he attacked out of nowhere. You never expected it. No one else did, and that wasn't your fault either. Plus, you showed your own strength, you embraced the pain you suffered from. You seemed willing to leave the hospital in the first place. You were determined to go out to the world to rescue Peach, Daisy, and all our friends despite me pushing you back. And that shows what your heart is set on, to think about others in front of yourself. Now that is a plan of action to come out and express your heroic traits. If that doesn't exemplify courage, then I don't what does."

The taller bro stared deeply in Mario's eyes and realized that he was being serious. He noticed that Mario was encouraging him to be strong and overcome his weaknesses, most notably his self-neglect. He then looked at Tails and Sonic who were still on the sofa. He saw them express smiles their muzzles as they also want Luigi to be brave and join them on the adventure. He darted over to the professor, and then the ghosts, with all three of them also exhibiting reassurance to boost Luigi's confidence. He returned to his brother and took in a deep breath.

"Well, if capturing ghosts is one of the main things to stop Edge… then I'm up for the challenge," he replied with a huge grin on his face, which made Mario beam back.

"I know you can do it, Weegie. And if you ever need help, we'll be right by your side."

Sonic got up from the couch and joined the parade. "That's right. If you need some motivation, or someone to calm you down, we'll help you out. That's what friends are for!"

"To that, my sentiments exactly," agreed Tails. "We've fought bad guys together before, and we'll do it again. It's safe to say that it wouldn't be the same without you. So I'm glad you're on board."

Zephyr and Colombo went up to each side of the green-hatted plumber and offered him a pat on the shoulder and a lick to the face, respectively. Professor E. Gadd chuckled lightly as he got up from his chair. "Great to see everyone back on track. But you guys must be tired, and it's probably late to head back to my lab. I'd wait until tomorrow morning for you guys to prepare. I hope you guys are ready for action. And second, Luigi, you should shower after sleeping in the bed for a long time."

Luigi smelled his armpits after the scientist's comment. He withdrew his face immediately from the stench. Mario snickered at his reaction. "Ugh, you're right, professor. I do smell disgusting."

"I don't blame you given you were immobile and treated. Since you're up, I'm sure the doctor won't mind," said the old scientist.

Luigi turned back to Mario who maintained his smile. "Thanks again for the pep talk, fratello."

"Anytime, bro," he responded while patting his shoulder. The two shared one more hug as the party all smiled.

* * *

 _Location: Edge's Headquarters_

Staring deeply at the red, white, cyan, and purple gems in his scepter, Myster Edge sat in front of his control panel as he admired the powerful objects. His thoughts were then interrupted by a knock on his sealed door. Looking at the security camera showing the footage outside of his lab, he spotted one of his mechs, a ten-foot tall lanky robot with a chrome texture and bronze streaks on his arms and legs.

"Master," reported the minion. "I have something to show you."

He pressed a red button to activate his microphone. Speaking into the device, he answered back. "Come on in, Slimmer." Edge then unlocked his door with his computer and the red mechanical door behind his seat opened.

The robot, identified as Slimmer, strolled his way inside the base and stopped in front of Edge's seat. The purple-skinned shadow rotated his chair and locked eyes with his minion.

"So what do you have to show me?"

Slimmer pressed a bronze button on his metallic chest as a secret compartment where his stomach was opened up. Reaching inside the dark crevice, he pulled out a valuable object: the blue Chaos Emerald.

Edge's eyes bulged and his mouth formed a sinister smile. "Excellent! Another Emerald for my collection!" he bellowed as he took the gem from the robot's hand.

"You're welcome, my lord. I found this one submerged in the vast ocean below Angel Island."

"Well done, Slimmer. I knew I chose the right individuals for my plan."

"So does that mean I get a raise?" the robot asked hopefully.

He lowered his hand to stare at him. "What? I'm not paying you anything. I created you to work for me and that's it."

"Wait, I thought I was getting paid to work."

"What is this, a fast-food restaurant? Get with the program, you mechanical dolt! You are my slave and you obey my orders for my advantage."

"So, how did I benefit from this?"

"You don't. I do."

"Well that's unfair to everyone else."

"Who said I was going to be fair and equal to my workers? I'm running an evil plan, not the fucking government. Now go back to work and find the last two Emeralds!"

"Yeesh, and I thought Alpha giving orders was irritating enough."

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?! YOU WANT TO REPEAT THAT AGAIN?!"

Slimmer backed up as he put his hands up in defense. "Uh… N-no, sir! I'm just being knocked up in the head! That's me being stupid."

"That's what I thought… Just go back to the search party. I didn't choose you as one of my higher-ranked minions to back-sass me."

"Y-yes, your Shadowiness. P-please excuse me…" With that, the nervous robot exited the headquarters.

"Hmm… Sometimes I wonder if he and the others even have a brain," he muttered to himself. Immediately, he glared at the Emerald that shined in his hand. He chortled lightly. "Heh, at least I now have five of the Emeralds. And in the meantime, the ghosts are now fully powered up from the Dark Moon."

Edge turned to the powerful machine where said ghosts who were still contained in their separate capsules. The white Possessors glowed brightly with purple auras and noticeable white cracks covering their entire bodies. He looked over to the counterpart generator on the right (hooked up to the other machine) as it created smaller copies of the fragments. The multiple pieces were distributed from the mechanism to a conveyor belt and were dropped in large bins. Each filled-up bin was automatically taken to the Power Processor, another large machine that generated power to the copied shards. With tons of cables and wires, their power was linked to his signature scepter, which held the first four Chaos Emeralds he had possessed.

Smirking at the progress he was witnessing, Edge couldn't help but cackle. "My plan is almost complete! All I need are the remaining Emeralds. But as I wait for my minions to retrieve them, the shards will add more dark, resilient powers to my scepter. Once enough power is stored, I will call the Oblivion to eat up every damn dimension, world, and space of living. And the rest of the Shards' resource to make me even stronger. And when it's all over, I will construct my own empire to truly rule over what was gone. I will be the most dominant person to ever live! And there's no one to stop me! HAHAHAHA!"

In the middle of his laughter, he heard another knock on his exposed door. "Urgh, damn it, Slimmer! I told you to go back to…" He turned around only to find his primary assistant, Alpha.

"I'm sorry, sir… Maybe I should come back at another time…" Alpha was about to leave until Edge interrupted him.

"No, stay here. That's my bad. Do you have something to discuss?"

"As a matter of fact, I do. The ghosts and the robots have successfully sealed the prisoners in different regions of the Mushroom Kingdom. The princesses and their friends are still locked up here in Vanilla Dome."

"Perfect, Alpha," Edge snickered as he walked over to his generated staff.

"Hmm, I see that you have your fifth Emerald, Myster."

"Your observation is correct," he replied as he transferred it inside the large orb container.

"So when are we going to release the Possessors?"

Edge turned back to Alpha and the large machine. "Ah yes, I was just looking over them for a bit. I think they're due for some ghastly mayhem very soon."

"Would you like me to release them to your liking?"

"Don't worry about that. I'll handle them. Once they're ready, I'll instruct them on their jobs, and they better commit to them."

"I'm sure they will. After all, you were the one to destroy the Dark Moon. And because of that, they are influenced to follow your orders. The same fate occurred for the rest of the underlings. That means they cannot refuse your command."

Edge showed a huge smirk as he faced Alpha again. "Anything else you want to address to me?"

"No, sir. That is all I have to report."

"Okay. You may head back to the dome to watch over the prisoners."

Alpha bowed down respectfully and made his way out. Edge closed and locked his headquarters as he was the only one left, disregarding the Possessors. The villain returned to his scepter and grasped it as more of the Dark Shards transmitted their power into the weapon. Feeling a huge sensation, Edge glowed a purple aura around his black cloak. The shadow spirit stared menacingly at the five Chaos Emeralds floating in the glass sphere.

 _"When it's all over, I will create new dimensions and rule everything, just how_ _ **you**_ _desired. Because of this, I will make you proud. I will avenge you…"_

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Wait… avenge? Myster Edge is avenging someone's death? Whose death? What for? And why? Do you have a conspiracy theory based off this? Leave a review and let me know what you think!_

 _As always, thanks for reading! And for this update, I appreciate you for waiting for this because of my workload at college. I'm still grinding through my last month before summer break. But expect another chapter the following Monday, assuming nothing else gets in my way! Next time on_ _Hidden Bravery_ _, we'll revisit the heroes who are preparing for the dangers that await them…_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I've explained this from the start; this note is to avoid confusion between the number of Chaos Emeralds the heroes_ _ **think**_ _Edge has vs. the number of Emeralds he_ _ **actually**_ _has. Initially, I mentioned that Edge received his fourth Emerald in Ch. 15. Then, I re-edited Daisy's email in Ch. 16 to let the gang know he had a total of four. When I read through what I initially wrote, it sounds perplexing. To clear things up, Luigi and the others are aware that he has four of the Chaos Emeralds and are under the assumption that he will have five, which is proven in Edge's cutscene. Now the search for the last Emerald remains._

 ** _(2):_** _Luigi was referencing the harsh words Edge told him during his coma. Since he was not known to be courageous and adventurous as Mario and Sonic, he criticized his self-esteem for not being a true hero. Again, he was thinking this was more of a task that his friends can handle better than him, whether or not he was in the picture. But Mario didn't stand for it. That's where those words of encouragement played a huge role to make his little bro feel better. This is just the beginning to help Luigi gain some confidence in his role._


	19. Ch 18: Preparations

_Disclaimer:_ _I don't Mario or Sonic as they belong to Nintendo and Sega. I only own the story plot and my OCs._

* * *

 **Chapter 18:** Preparations

It only took five minutes for Luigi to take a refreshing shower, the first one in three days' time since the morning of his birthday. He and Mario spent the night in the hospital beds, Sonic and Tails once again slept on the couch while Professor E. Gadd and Zephyr slept on the two chairs. Colombo joined the green-hatted man in his bed as the gang set off for some well-deserved rest.

It was now the following morning and the first thing they woke up to was Dr. Toadley heading inside Room 206. And after checking up on the patients' progress, he was happy to announce that the two were permitted to be excused from their injuries. Luigi remained strong and healthy while Mario was fully healed from his own wounds. Even Tails' hand that was burnt during the night of the invasion was already better, and the other guys were relieved that their friends were going to be okay.

Courtesy of the Toad doctor's helpers, the plumbers were given a fresh set of clothes of their respective colored shirts, overalls, gloves, socks, and boots. After getting into uniform, they smiled at one another and responded with a loud high-five. The Mario Brothers were back in action!

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

It was overcast in the Mushroom Kingdom on a mild Tuesday morning. The party of seven walked through Toad Town where most of the buildings have been repaired and the pathways have been clear of leftover rubble, debris, and broken glass. As they made the long trek to Boo Woods, a couple raindrops fell from the gray clouds that hovered over the forest. A few minutes later, a drizzle poured down on the heroes.

"Man, I hate rain," grumbled Sonic. "Having to dry my quills and fur is such an annoyance, especially after I go for a run."

"At least you don't have that much fur. I get completely soaked every time I get wet," said Tails.

"Yeah, but it doesn't keep me warm like your tails do. I'm jealous for that. If it gets cold, I'd have to wear a jacket." Normally, Sonic only wore gloves, socks, and shoes as his attire; the same applied for Tails, too. Occasionally, he'd wear some warm clothing to bundle up from the rain, snow, or freezing temperatures. The only complaint he had was having to buy new clothes if the old ones got ripped from running too fast.

"I mean, it is summer, so usually we wouldn't have to think about the cold that often. I just hate it when it gets humid. Nothing makes me sweat more than hot air," tagged Luigi.

"I believe you mean atmospheric moisture," corrected the fox.

"Do we really need a lesson on what humidity is? I just want to get out this freaking rain!"

"Worry not, Blue Blur. We're almost back at my garage," notified the Professor.

"I sure hope it doesn't rain too hard anytime soon," Mario commented.

As the light rain continued to descend, the gang made it back to the lab in the deepest region of the spooky woods. Gadd unlocked the front door and allowed everyone inside first before heading in himself. When they reached the main hub of his lab, the professor went straight to his swivel chair and began typing on his computer. While Sonic and Tails dried their fur and Mario drenched the water from his hat, the man in green walked up behind E. Gadd.

"What are you doing now, Professor?" he asked.

"The same procedure I did when I asked for your assistance. I'm trying to locate the whereabouts of the Dark Moon pieces."

"Don't we know that already? In Daisy's message, she explained that everyone was trapped in Vanilla Dome and they got word from Eggman that the other pieces are with Edge in his headquarters. Let's just go there right now!"

"Now hold on there, Mario. I recommended we would go here first to help you prepare. For you and Luigi, you should stock up on your usual power-ups: Mushrooms, Fire Flowers, Power Stars, etc. The usual stuff that will help you in the long run. And for Luigi specifically, I should have the Poltergust 5000 with me, but I decided to create a brand-new model with some slight modifications!"

"Let me guess, it's called the Poltergust 6000, isn't it?"

"It's like you read my mind, sonny!" E. Gadd chuckled. Luigi, however, rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I can almost guarantee that the Dark Moon pieces are going to be separated and protected by the Possessors. Edge might have used an opportunity to send them to various locations throughout the Mushroom Kingdom. So we can't say for sure that all five fragments are held within Vanilla Dome."

"Of course. What kind of adventure is it if the items we need are conveniently in one spot?" Tails groaned.

"One that would be easy, but completely stupid to even happen. No adventure is that easy to complete. But seriously, where's the fun in that? A simple quest is not as exciting as traveling through many lands and battling foes!" answered Sonic.

"Why can't we catch a break for once?" the green-clad man complained to himself.

"Eureka! I've got a reading on my computer right here! Let me just get a better look at the map and…" A notification sound alerted from the computer, showing the gang what they were looking for. "Bingo!" exclaimed the professor.

On the large screen, a map of the kingdom and its neighboring realms were shown. As the professor typed up more commands on his keyboard, the screen magnified to reveal some significant signals. And those signals were the locations of the Dark Moon pieces.

"Wow, you were right about Edge splitting up the ghosts in different regions, E. Gadd. At least we know where they are now," said Mario.

"Based on the map, there is still one residing in Vanilla Dome, which is where your friends are held captive. I spot the others in Kongo Jungle, Sparkling Waters, and Evershade Valley. But I can't seem to pinpoint the last one."

When E. Gadd mentioned their original residence, the Polterpup and Greenie reacted quickly by making audible ghost screeches.

"Colombo, Zephyr! Calm down!" The Greenie and Polterpup stopped their actions and behaved under Luigi's command. "I know, I'm surprised too that one of the Possessors would head back to Evershade. Probably for a good reason just to spook me."

"Don't worry, Weege. We can save that place for last if you want to," Mario comforted him.

"I would like that, thanks."

E. Gadd put a hand to his chin and rubbed it. "Hmm… it's peculiar that the map presented four locations when there are five missing fragments. Either the last piece is somewhere outlandish that I can't get a signal, or maybe there are two pieces in one area. Otherwise, I haven't a clue to describe this discrepancy. But for starters, I suggest that you two brothers head over to the Vanilla Dome first since that place is a given. You can retrieve the Dark Moon piece and rescue your friends. Maybe they can offer some help as well."

"But if you want Mario and Luigi to go there, what can Sonic and I do to help?" asked Tails.

"It's probably best that you should return to your home world. Likewise, you can grab any power-ups that may benefit you two, especially those rings you love to collect. Not only that, try to find the other Chaos Emerald. There's no doubt his minions are searching frantically to help him find it. We can't afford that shadow figure to get his hands on six of them. Then again, all seven."

"Sounds like a plan to me," smirked Sonic. "We gotta make sure they don't find the last Emerald and the one we have. Come on, Tails. Let's go! The faster we get away from the rain, the less damp we'll be and the quicker we'll get back!" And off he went, leaving a blue streak in front of the gang.

"Sonic, wait!" It was too late as said hedgehog already flashed out of the laboratory. Tails let out a dissatisfied sigh. "Sometimes I wish he could be more patient. Not only because he left me behind _again_ , but I was going to ask him if he _actually_ had the Chaos Emerald."

"I'm pretty sure he kept it with him," remarked Mario.

"Oh yeah? Look right there," he pointed to the ground where the yellow Emerald laid in front of the red man's feet.

"What the hell? How did that get there?"

The kitsune shook his head disappointedly and picked up the shiny stone. "It fell out of his quills as he sped off, and here I thought he secured it in there. Sometimes he doesn't pay attention to his surroundings, and that's one of the few damn things he doesn't learn: always make sure you have everything _before_ you leave. And don't rush things too quickly."

"Sadly I make the same mistake when I forget our house keys," grumbled Luigi.

"I'll go give this to him. If he has trouble finding it, which he will no doubt, I'll rub it in his face. Nonetheless, we'll try to find the other Chaos Emerald as soon as possible. You still have my contact, Luigi?" Tails asked as he stuffed it in his fluffy appendages.

"Right on my 3DS."

"Perfect. I'll call you if anything important happens. Good luck, guys." With that, the twin-tailed fox ran off to the Mushroom Warp Pipe in Toad Town to catch up to his blue brother.

"So Sonic and Tails are heading back to Mobius. Luigi and I will travel to Vanilla Dome. What about you, Zephyr, and Colombo?" questioned Mario.

"I'm going to need Zephyr's assistance to help me locate the final Dark Moon piece. I still have the restored one and I'll keep it safe in my bunker. Colombo can join you gentlemen on the journey. He is a talented tracker so he could find the Possessors and the other ghouls very quickly." The Polterpup performed an enthusiastic back flip and barked happily while the Greenie pouted, disappointed he was told to stay behind. "Sorry Zeph. But I'm going to need an assistant for my research. Maybe you can help me build some new inventions for Mario and his friends." Now with that comment, Zephyr was intrigued and was on board with a cheeky smile. "Hohoho! That's the _spirit_ , literally!" Mario rolled his eyes at his pun while Luigi frowned, but the professor didn't notice. "Anyways, follow me for one quick second."

E. Gadd hopped off his chair and strolled over to a brown vintage cabinet with the Mario Bros. and the ghosts following from behind. Opening the large cupboard, he revealed his latest installment of the original vacuum: the Poltergust 6000. Just like the two versions Luigi used in his previous adventures, the 6000 was a red vacuum with brown durable straps for portability, two metal wheels, and a flexible hose with an interchangeable nozzle. With the push of a red button, it allows the Poltergust to switch between a flashlight for a source of brightness and a vacuum with quality suction and blowing properties to catch ghosts. (Do NOT take that out of context.) Similar with the most recent model, it contained a Strobulb to stun paranormal entities and the attachable Dark-Light Device to uncover invisible objects or paranormal footprints… that is if ghosts, other than Polterpups, had feet. It also consisted of a second button, this one being green, and a metal switch on the retractable hose.

The professor removed the invention off the dresser's hooks and handed it to Luigi. "Look alive, sonny. Introducing the Poltergust 6000! It's got all of the main materials and tools you used with the 5000, but this one is slightly different, yet more powerful than the older versions."

He rotated the vacuum in his hands and inspected its features. "What's so different about this model other than the aesthetic improvements? I mean it does it look much shinier and sleeker than the previous Poltergust vacuums, but I don't see much else."

"Hohoho! But this model can capture ghosts much faster than an upgraded Super Poltergust 5000. I made tons of modifications with the new technological advances they put out to make this baby more efficient. Not only that, but it has a new feature. Do you see the metal switch next to the green button?" Luigi nodded at his question. "Well, go ahead and flip it!"

Luigi raised an eyebrow, but didn't hesitate. Pushing the switch to the 'up' position, the next thing that he noticed was a green barrier that popped out of the Poltergust and surrounded his entire body. Taken back by the surprise, he turned off the switch and the barricade disappeared.

Mario was dazed. "Whoa, what the heck was that?"

"That was the Shriek Shield: an impenetrable safeguard to protect the one who wields the vacuum. **_(1)_** But it can also form barriers for your allies. If the switch is still in the up position, just aim at someone, hold down the green button, and use the blow function to shoot a Shriek Shield! The moment it hits that person, they will be instantly shielded from anything. The best part is that you guys can still fight while you're protected. And to your benefit, Luigi, you can still suck up ghosts _through_ the shield. But be careful, you only get about 30 seconds of invincibility."

"Is the Shriek Shield of limited use? wondered Luigi.

"Unfortunately, the design could only last for such little time to defend yourselves. Not only that, but you can only use up to ten Shriek Shields before it needs to be recharged."

"Recharged? Since when does the Poltergust need to be rechargeable?"

"Well almost anything these days have a rechargeable battery, Mario," E. Gadd explained. "And it's only for the Shriek Shield exclusively. The vacuum itself always works unless there's some odd malfunction. But I've tested it out like the last two models and I've had little to no concerns or breakdowns from these machines."

"Touché, but I think that's inconvenient if you could only use up to ten barriers in one stint of ghost catching and battles. And it could probably take an hour to charge up one shield."

"Actually, it takes 30 minutes to charge for a 30-second barrier. It may not be that efficient, but I'll see if I can make some upgrades to it later. Nevertheless, I'm sure Luigi can plan accordingly and use them wisely to your advantage. By handling the Poltergust tactfully, you should be _suck-_ cessful! And don't let your guards down. You don't wanna _blow_ this opportunity up! Hohoho!" Mario facepalmed, Colombo and Zephyr groaned, and Luigi lowered his right brow, unamused. "What?"

"First of all, Professor, I don't even play strategically in Mario Party. Regardless if I do anything or not, I either surprisingly win or look like a fool. And if I screw up, then I'm going to cause trouble. And second, we're in the middle of a fucking crisis where someone is hellbound on destroying all worlds and you think it's appropriate to cheer us up with vacuum puns? You've already made bad ones involving ghosts and clock hands."

"Hey, I'm just trying to _lighten_ up the mood for you," he jokingly countered by shining a flashlight in his face. Luigi, however, was more frustrated than fazed by the light. "Ehh… tough crowd," he huffed as he turned off the device and put it away. "But I'm sure you'll be okay, lad. After all, with your… ah… your bushy mustache..." Luigi slouched at E. Gadd's repeated, pathetic compliment. ** _(2)_** "You and Mario should be strong enough to take down the Possessors and any of Myster Edge's goons. And like I said earlier, you should prepare yourselves with some healing and attack items."

"Toad Town has been repaired, so I bet they should be back in business. Come on, Luigi. Are you ready to go?"

"Almost, Mario. I just have one more question to ask, specifically to E. Gadd. Do you mind if I have some privacy?"

Mario raised an eyebrow in suspicion. Whatever Luigi had in mind, it must be personally related to Gadd in some way. However, he didn't want to make him uncomfortable, so he left the lab. After Mario was gone, the plumber in green turned to the ghosts and asked them to leave too. Likewise, Colombo and Zephyr were confused, but didn't hesitate as they literally went through the walls.

"What do you have in mind?" the professor spoke as the two were the only ones left.

In a calm, whispering tone, Luigi responded. "Do you think that the power of the Chaos Emerald and the Dark Moon piece had something to do with what Edge is planning?"

Elvin frowned at his concern. "At the moment, my friend, I still don't know what happened back at the hospital. I was going to research any specs or anything out of the ordinary from the moon fragment to see I could uncover the reason for that incident. But why are you nervous about this now?"

"What if this power that healed me is controlled by some force? Edge told me I'd be the reason for destroying all worlds, the same fate for me when I was Mr. L. Do you think he knows that this combined force is a way to brainwash me and fall under his command? Is there some other prophecy that I'm unaware of that involves me and him? What if…"

E. Gadd put a hand on Luigi's shoulder to comfort him. "Son, not to be a worrywart, but you're probably overthinking the situation a bit too early at this point. We don't have any answers on what just happened, along with how and why it was even possible in the first place. But try not to let it distract you. Also, don't think about the past. Follow your brother's former advice. Just forgive and forget, then move on. Right now, you guys should focus on the main tasks. Find the other Chaos Emerald to prevent Edge from getting close to destruction. Recover the Dark Moon pieces. Save your friends as soon as possible. Try to avoid any danger and harm from himself and his minions. Become the hero you are destined to be, and that requires you to be brave and assertive. Believe me, Luigi. I have confidence in you whether you think you're up to the test or not. Regardless of what happens, I will always be proud of your hard work. Ever since your first mansion adventure, I still think you're a courageous fellow in your way."

"I just don't want to let Mario and everyone else down."

Unbeknownst to both Luigi and E. Gadd, the lab door wasn't closed the whole way. And from the small crease, a blue eye was peering through the opening as the person eavesdropped.

 _"Why would he think he would let me down?"_ Mario thought. He grimaced at himself for spying on their conversation, but his stubbornness got the best of the plumber in red. _"I wish he could stop putting pressure on himself."_

"Whatever you do, he'll be proud of your efforts. You didn't let him down the first two times you saved him, and I'm certain he'll appreciate you for standing up for yourself."

 _"And I agree. I_ _ **am**_ _proud of you, Weegie."_

E. Gadd finished his speech with a genuine smile. In turn, Luigi grinned back. And that made Mario happy from behind the door.

"Thanks, Professor. I feel a bit more confident now. And we'll do our best to stop Edge," he declared.

"That's more like it. Now what are you waiting for? Go put that on your back and catch some ghosts!"

Luigi listened to his words and placed his arms through the straps of the Poltergust. He was prepared for another ghost hunting adventure.

Mario stepped away from the door and stood near the garage entry as if he was still waiting. Well, he was waiting, just not near the front entrance. Nonetheless, he sported a smile as his brother exited the lab with Elvin following behind. Zephyr floated to the professor's side while Colombo leaned his front paws against the legs of Luigi's overalls, panting with anticipation.

Luigi smiled at the Polterpup before turning to his older brother.

"Are you ready to go, Luigi?"

He nodded at him. "Ready as I'll ever be."

"Well then, let's-a-go!" **_(3)_**

As Mario, Luigi, and Colombo hiked their way through the drizzling rain, E. Gadd and Zephyr waved them goodbye and went to work on the mystery of the merged powers of the Chaos Emerald and the Dark Moon piece. But as the trio walked through the woods, a figure watched them pass by as he was concealed in a bush. Once they were far enough from the hidden individual, he activated his mobile communicator and whispered into the mic.

"Hello? Do you read? This is Duplimore, reporting. I've got my eye on the man in green. He's walking with a vacuum on his back, a red man in similar clothing, and a ghost dog. I overheard they're heading towards the Vanilla Dome. I repeat, the target is in pursuit of Vanilla Dome. I'll try my best to follow him without getting caught. He is the key to our plan…"

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _We got ourselves another mysterious character in the story. Who is this Duplimore, and is he part of Edge's group? If so, what's his role other than stalking him?_

 _Also, Luigi got some more motivational support, this time from the clever professor. Now that he's determined, Mario and Colombo will accompany him to Vanilla Dome to rescue their friends. What awaits them at the caverns? Alongside that, Sonic and Tails will return to Mobius to see if they can retrieve the last undiscovered Chaos Emerald. However, have they forgotten of the fact that Myster Edge ambushed Station Square back in Ch. 5? What will their home look like when they come back? Will they find the emerald before the shadow figure and his slaves get to it first? And where could the last Dark Moon piece be? Stay tuned next Monday for Ch. 19 of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _…_

 _If you liked what you read, leave a review and let me know what you think of this chapter. To keep up to date, hit that follow button. If you love the story, be sure to favorite it. Thanks for reading and I'll see you guys next time!_

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I decided to upgrade the Poltergust and give it a new accessory. It took me a while to think of something unique, but I came up with the Shriek Shield. Hopefully it sounds interesting and I'll try to exploit it as much as I can when Luigi fends off against the ghosts._

 ** _(2):_** _E. Gadd first 'praised' his mustache when trying to think of Luigi's strengths in_ _Dark Moon_ _. To the hero's dismay, it wasn't much of a compliment nor a special quality (but it is a nice mustache)._

 ** _(3):_** _I remember when I used to add Italian accents in the beginning of my story at first. Then I got rid of those because they started to get annoying as I repeated it while writing. From now on, that will probably be the ONLY phrase I'll ever write in that context for any Mario story._


	20. Ch 19: Search and Seizure

_A/N:_ _Holy crap. It's been another long two weeks since the last chapter was posted. I'm heading into finals week, and I'm already tired and stressed out from studying. At the very least, this story (not including the last personal update) received over 300 views in a one-week span, the most I've ever gotten. Special thanks to Steel Magic & Tiger of Darkness for helping me reach __**40+ reviews**_ _!_

 _Also, I decided to change this fanfic as a 'Regular' story under the Mario category. It may be a crossover featuring Sonic, Tails, and everyone else I've added earlier, but Luigi will be the main character while Mario also plays a major role. Ironically, this chapter is mainly focused on Tails and Sonic. But whatever. I wanted to see if this move works out to interest new readers and gain extra feedback on my writing._

 _Thanks again for being patient, and I hope you enjoy this chapter._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I only own the story plot and my OCs. Everything else is owned by Nintendo and Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 19:** Search and Seizure

 _Location: Vanilla Dome_

It was cold inside the dark, musty caverns. Hours ago, heavy rain poured outside as lightning and thunder boomed loudly that it caught the prisoners in a waking frenzy. Despite the cold winds and constant downpour, they managed to withstand the storm until morning came by. Through the small opening, the party could still see clouds rolling by. The rain may have stopped, but the sky remained covered by the color gray.

"Another day, another moment where we remain stuck in this cell," moaned Toadette. "I sure hope the guys are coming here soon."

"I am more concerned of the fact that these robots won't treat us with decent hospitality. I must say, the least they could do is give us blankets for warmth and adequate rations for us to consume. Instead, they act and treat us in the most inappropriate manner!" bellowed Toadsworth.

"I could care less for food. But the least they could provide us is some water. I'm dehydrated," Blaze commented.

"How are you guys holding up?" Amy directed her question to the other girls sitting next to her with their backs against the wall with the small hole.

"Could be better. I'm a little chilly from those gusting winds coming from outside. It makes this place feel like we're stuck at Frosted Glacier," replied Daisy.

Peach was the next to answer. "I'm okay, Amy. But I sure wish we could get out of here soon."

"I may be a bat, and being in caves is nothing new for me. But when you add a jail and I'm forced to stay in here, it irks me to a new low," Rouge shrugged.

Toad, Cream and Cheese were sitting on the left side of the prison across from Blaze, Toadsworth and Toadette. At one point, they tried to play some hand clapping games, but that lasted only two minutes before the robot guards told them to be quiet.

Cream sighed. "I'm so bored. I wish we could do something fun."

"Chao Chao…" Cheese dryly added.

Toad stared up at the stalactites hanging from the ceiling. "I wonder if they're coming as fast as they can. Unless rescuing us is their top priority, I can't imagine what's taking so long."

"It takes patience, Toad. I've had plenty of that unfortunate business whenever I have to wait for Mario to come rescue me every time I get caught. It makes me feel so useless when I can't do anything to escape or at least prevent myself from going through this time and time again."

"Peach, don't be like that," assured Blaze. "At least you had the courage to uncover anything on the villains' plans during your imprisonment. You helped Mario gain knowledge to rescue you despite the consequences that came with it."

"And you were a part of the conversation when Eggman leaked that information about Edge and his stupid robots!"

"HEY! We heard that!" one of the guards boomed at Amy's comment.

"And we told you to SHUT IT!" yelled the other robot.

"Whatever," the hedgehog scoffed. Ironically, they were irritated of her insult, well more of their constant babbling, yet they managed to miss the part where she explained they got help from an unlikely source.

"As long as they got the message, I know they'll be here for us. Mario has never let you or us down before. And with Luigi, Sonic and Tails, I'm positive we will receive their help." Daisy had a sincere smile towards her blonde friend, which reassured the Mushroom Princess.

"You guys are right. I forgot about all of that. I'm also sure Mario and the gang will be here soon. Thanks for making me feel better."

"No problem, Peach. We just wanted you to realize that you're helpful in your way. Everyone's different when it comes to contribution!" cheered Amy.

"Now it's just the waiting game. All we could do is sit and rest if these dunces aren't going to give us nourishment," Rouge whispered making sure the lookouts didn't hear her.

"We don't have that many choices anyway," said Toadette.

"Patience is the key. It's one of the few things I possess. Energy is not one of them, however," added Toadsworth.

"I still wonder where our other friends were taken. I'm scared for them. What if they're gone forever?"

"I wouldn't be too worried about them, Cream. Those guys are tough enough to withstand those guards and ghosts," assured Toad.

"But still, I just wish we knew where they were taken away. I miss Silver," moaned Blaze.

"It's very peculiar to not have Shadow or even the red dolt around." Peach looked at Rouge with a questionable stare. "I'm talking about the knucklehead echidna, not the plumber," she defended.

"I was about to say, at least you specified who you're talking about."

"I wonder where the guys are right now, especially Sonic. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised if he was either running around looking for us, or if he's knocking himself out with a chili dog fest."

Amy's words couldn't have rung true. But they have…

* * *

 _Location: Toad Town_

In what would have been at least 15 minutes for an average Toad to walk from E. Gadd's bunker to the warp pipe outside of Mushroom Castle only took less than a minute for the blue hedgehog by simply running at his top speed. To brighten his mood, the rain stopped pouring as he reached Toad Town. He even had the audacity to stop at Tayce T.'s house and ask for some chili dogs as his brunch. **_(1)_** The elderly Toad was surprised to see Sonic appear, but was more than delighted to whip up a batch of his favorite treat. Sonic offered her some rings as a tip, but Tayce politely denied the gratuities. He still thanked the woman and made it to the blue pipe. While waiting for Tails, he sat down and munched on his first of six chili dogs.

"Mmm… Damn, Tayce T. really knows how to make food taste really good here! I mean I've had better at the food stand in Station Square, but this is delicious!" By the time he devoured three more, he heard his yellow friend whirling his namesakes from above. "Hey Tails! You want a bite?" he shouted as he pulled out his fifth chili dog from the bag. Tails didn't reply as he had an angry expression on his face when he landed in front of the pipe. Sonic caught on his bad mood. "What's wrong, bud?"

"First of all, you're eating chili dogs at a time like this?"

"Well I haven't eaten breakfast yet, so I asked Tayce T. to make me some! Do you want one or not?"

"You could have waited for me when you ran out of E. Gadd's lab. But that's not why I'm really mad."

"Then what's up?"

Using the most inquisitive, yet sarcastic, voice he could pitch, Tails asked him a question. "Do you happen to know how to access the pipe back to our home world?"

Sonic raised an eyebrow wondering why he would ask that, especially in the tone he spoke. "Well yeah. We need to bring a Chaos Emerald to unlock the entrance, the same way we do in our world whenever we visit here. It's our ticket to and from home. Otherwise, Power Stars are needed if Mario and his friends wanted to access Mobius. That's why the Bros. built these long-distance pipes."

"Now that I think about it, why don't we use Chaos Control again?"

"You know that, Tails. Only Shadow, Silver and I have the power to use teleportation with Chaos Control whereas the others don't, which includes everyone in Mario's world. If anyone other than three of us wanted to travel one place or the other, all they need is one of the seven Emeralds to unlock the pipes. Besides, since we're so far away from home, it takes up almost all of its energy to transport us between Mobius and the Mushroom Kingdom. And the last time we did that, we ended up losing the Emerald immediately." **_(2)_**

"Alright then. Why don't you open it right now?"

Sonic looked back at Tails. "Are you trying to pull a fast one on me? I'm not that stupid."

 _"In some cases, you are,"_ he muttered in his thoughts.

Sonic put the chili dog back in his bag and ruffled through his blue quills. Then, his eyes widened. He searched thoroughly in the back of his head and started patting his body and hips as if he had pockets. But because he didn't wear pants or a jacket…

"Oh, shit… Where's the Chaos Emerald?! I could've sworn I kept it in here! But, where is it?!" He continued through his careless charade of frisking until Tails coughed for attention.

"Ahem… Sonic…"

Sonic didn't listen as he checked inside his gloves and even his shoes.

"Sonic!"

He finally turned to him. "What?"

Tails dug through his appendages and revealed the yellow Chaos Emerald. "Looking for this?"

"Tails! How do _you_ have it?!"

"To reiterate, you ran out of the lab when you could have waited for me. Not only because you left me alone, but it fell out of your quills when you were in a hurry!"

"Really?"

"Yes, really! I told you to never rush things until you have everything in set. I understand your determination, but your impatience overshadows that sometimes. You're lucky I caught sight of this or we would've ran all the way back to Boo Woods. And walking through that forest is already freaky enough with the crows and the sounds of those mischievous Boos."

"Wow. I never would have thought I'd be that careless. I'm lucky to have a partner like you."

Tails calmed down after hearing the hedgehog's appreciation. "Just make sure it doesn't happen again. And if you wouldn't mind, at least wait for me before you run. I always fall behind because I'm slower than you, or Eggman interferes and kidnaps me when I'm alone."

"Sorry about that, Tails. I'll make sure that never happens again."

"That's okay. Now let's get back to home and find that last Emerald. But first…" Tails drifted from his speech after unlocking the pipe to Mobius and expressed a mischievous grin. "I'll be taking that!" And with a quick move, he snatched the bag of two chili dogs out of Sonic's hand.

Sonic shook his head rapidly wondering what the hell just happened. It was a sudden role reversal. "Huh? Hey! Tails!"

"You want them back? You'll have to catch me!" he taunted as he entered below.

"Oh, I'll get you back from that, buddy! That I swear!" he smirked. The Blue Blur jumped into the pipe, closed the hatch, and ran after the fox with the chili dogs.

* * *

While Sonic and Tails ventured their way back to their home planet, the Mario Bros. and Colombo revisited Toad Town as they bought several items for the trip. While exiting the shop, Mario looked over their list to double-check their shopping.

"Let's see… Mushrooms and Super Shrooms, check. 1-Ups, check. Fire, Ice, and Boomerang Flowers, that's been bought. Refreshing Herbs, got them. Cape Feathers for flying us there, yes." **_(3)_**

"It's too bad Colombo can't fly like the other ghosts. It would make transportation much easier for him. Looks like I'm going to have to carry you to Vanilla Dome, boy."

"Bark!" Colombo woofed happily at Luigi's offer.

"So, how you feeling, Weegie?"

Luigi turned to his shorter brother. "How am I feeling? Fine, I guess. Why'd you ask?"

Mario shrugged his shoulders. "I was just curious. After all, Edge really harmed you that night and I was extremely worried. I wasn't able to help and I couldn't forgive myself for that. I'm just grateful you're back and stronger than before." He continued to ramble on until he realized he was talking too much. "Sorry for my overprotectiveness. Force of habit."

Luigi shook his head. "No, Mario. You were doing the right thing to look out after me. You did care about me whereas I acted like a jerk to you when I woke up. I should've been more respectful considering you're the older brother."

"Age doesn't matter, fratello. We should be looking out for each other, not just me protecting both of us. That's what brothers are for. Just because I'm older doesn't mean I'm the boss. I don't want to be overpowering. But I can't help but worry for your self being. The same should apply to you. You've been more taciturn, yet you always know what is the right thing to do."

Luigi slightly pouted. "I just wish I could be as brave as you, Mario. That's the one thing I'm envious about. You have this determination and passion to save the world and you rarely show any signs of surrendering. In fact, you _never_ seem to give up. Against Bowser, Fawful, the Shadow Queen, Tabuu, any enemy at all… You're the epitome of what it takes to be a hero. Even Sonic can relate to that because he's always determined and rarely afraid of anything."

"Except for water and needles. And I get the same feeling with the latter."

"Touché. But I wish I can just man up and not look like the butt of the joke whenever we go on adventures. If you remember our previous journeys, I always get bad luck whether it's me getting hit with fire or hammers, chased by enemies, freaked out by Boos, or anything that makes me look like a fool."

Mario placed a hand on his shoulder. "Well, I would suggest that the first thing you should do is stop thinking about negative thoughts. Sometimes, if you believe in yourself, to look on the bright side, things might start going your way."

Luigi sighed. "Sorry if I sound like a killjoy. I'm just not looking forward to this in the case if Edge shows up and tries to electrocute me again."

"Don't worry, Luigi. I'll be right there with you, and so will Colombo."

The Polterpup agreed with Mario as he barked twice for confirmation. "Bark! Bark!"

Luigi got a chuckle out of that. "Alright then. Are you ready for takeoff?"

Mario pulled out the two Cape Feathers he bought and handed one to the taller brother. "You betcha!"

They absorbed the power-ups and magic capes appeared from behind their backs, transforming into Cape Mario and Cape Luigi.

"Ready to go, Colombo?"

"Bark!" he yipped.

Luigi picked up the ghost dog into his arms. "Okey-dokey. Hang on tight, boy. Ready whenever you are, Mario."

Mario nodded with a smile as the two began to run. As they gained speed, they took flight with their capes as they floated their way down south near Yoshi's Island. And nearby the dinosaur land is the Vanilla Dome Caverns where Princess Peach and their friends are held captive.

* * *

 _Location: Station Square_

The dynamic, inseparable duo of Sonic and Tails transported their way back to Mobius after the wild goose chase that ensued. Tails managed to eat one of the last two chili dogs, but the last one was sniped and devoured by Sonic. Despite this, they still had fun chasing each other as they reached the pipe exit that led to Station Square. But by the time Tails jumped out, his eyes glued to the destruction that was left behind.

"Oh… my… Chaos…"

Then, Sonic popped out and landed behind him. "Ha! I finally caught up to… you…" he started before he realized the scene in front of him.

They saw hundreds of construction workers rebuilding the skyscrapers and buildings. Most of them were repaired, but still had some more work to be complete again. Gardeners were tending the new patches of flowers grown in the grass. Pedestrians walked along the destroyed sidewalk while the roads were being repaved. They even caught a glimpse of some people with noticeable injuries. It was quite a surprise to them to see how much damage Edge exploited with the Chaos Emeralds.

"Shadow wasn't kidding when he mentioned Edge terrorized this place. Only four days have passed since the attack, and it's quite ironic that they need more time to reconstruct everything compared to how long the Toads took to clean their mess from Bowser's invasion. But still, it's insane how he caused all of this."

"And that's what happens when the Chaos Emeralds fall into the wrong hands."

"Well they didn't technically fall into his possession. He stole the first two from Eggman, the turquoise one from Shadow, and his goons found two more. But I get your point."

"Man, that shadow guy is starting to get on my nerves. He wasn't as horrible as Perfect Chaos flooding the entire city, but he still caused some major destruction here."

"What do we do now, Sonic?"

"We're going to find that last Emerald before the robots get to him first."

Tails pulled out the yellow Emerald and held it tightly with his hand. "I'm trying to get an energy signal here."

Meanwhile, Sonic closed and locked up the pipe hatch and returned to Tails' side. "Any luck yet?"

After focusing for awhile, the yellow gem shined brightly in front of them. "I've got it! Now let's find out where it leads us to!"

"Cool! Lead the way, bro!"

* * *

 _Location: Emerald Hill Zone_ _ **(4)**_

Emerald Hill Zone. The very first area Sonic and Tails ventured as a team back on West Side Island. Full of cascading waterfalls, coconut palm trees, and green hills, it drew similarities to South Island's Green Hill Zone. This place brought back memories for Sonic, because it was where he met Tails who eventually took him in as his younger brother and sidekick.

"So this is where the Emerald led us to," Tails said uneasily.

"I remember we had fun running through these hills. Good times, huh pal?" Sonic asked happily.

"Minus the times I was bullied and abused for my tails, it was the only thing I liked about this island. I know I've said this many times before, but I was lucky to meet you here. You were my first best friend who appreciated me. And I have to thank you for that."

Sonic hugged his arm over Tails' shoulder. "You're welcome, buddy. My adventures wouldn't be as fun without you. Not only are you a smart inventor, but a flying enthusiast. And I couldn't ask for more."

Tails chuckled as Sonic gave him a noogie. "Okay! Hehehe! Now how about we find that Emerald before Edge's jerks do? Remember what E. Gadd said. We can pick up some rings and power-ups along the way."

"Sounds like a plan to me! Let's get to running!"

The hedgehog and fox sped off through the grass once again as they collected tens of rings, Speed Shoes, and Shield items for the adventure ahead. Jumping from platform to platform and running at the speed of sound, the duo journeyed through the zone until Tails felt a strong presence.

"Sonic! The Chaos Emerald is telling me that it's nearby somewhere!"

"Well that's good! We're almost there!"

They continued their run until they reached the base a large cataract. Beyond the falling water was a cave. As they stopped, Tails turned to Sonic.

"It's probably past that waterfall and inside the cavern. I'll dive in and try to locate it."

"Good luck, Tails." It was understandable why Tails decided to leave Sonic by himself as he searched for the Emerald. If it was underwater, it'd be concerning for the hedgehog to swim due to his aquaphobia.

After giving a reassuring nod, the twin-tailed kit splashed into the lake and swam past the raging waterfall. He appeared back above surface to catch his breath and continued to tread inside the dark cave. Eventually, Tails came across land and jumped out of the water. After shaking his body and drying his fur, he looked around the darkness to find any signs of the green Emerald. He took out the yellow Emerald as a source of light and walked slowly.

"I really hope the Emerald's in here. This better not be some joke."

As he got deeper into the grotto, the Emerald shined much brighter than before. And the next thing he knew, he noticed a green hue glowing behind one of the cave walls.

"Is that what I think it is?" Tails whispered to himself.

He looked inside the wall to see a small ledge. And there it was: the green Chaos Emerald! He gasped and smiled. He activated his wrist communicator and contacted Sonic from outside.

"Sonic! I found it! The green Emerald's in here!"

"Really?! That's awesome, Tails! Now bring the Emerald back and we'll be on our way!"

"Will do!"

Tails stretched his arm inside the hole until his fingers touched the shining object. As soon as he grasped it, he pulled it out of the cave and admired its appearance.

"Alright! Now we've got two of the Emeralds. All I gotta do is get back to Sonic and…"

"Two Emeralds, you say? That's more than enough information I need to know."

Tails paused with his eyes wide open when he heard someone behind him. When he slowly turned around, he was taken aback by a red robot standing in his way. He was four times Tails' height with buff, mechanical arms, a spiked collar around his neck, and a laser cannon attached to his left fist.

"Huh?! Who are you?! What are you doing here?!"

"The name's Rocco, but that's beside the point. I'm here for the same reason why you're here. I was searching for the any of the two remaining Emeralds that my master is after. But when I heard you coming inside, I hid behind the rocks. And now that you've found the one hidden here, I'll be taking that along with the one you also have. Just hand them over to me and I won't harm you, little fox."

Tails narrowed his eyes. "In your dreams, bozo!"

"You dare to defy me?"

"You must be one of Edge's minions, and there's no way in hell I'll give you the Emeralds."

"Persistent, aren't you? Then I guess I have no choice."

In a split second, Rocco launched a laser towards Tails. He jumped out of the way as the laser destroyed a rock. Crumbled pieces went flying from the attack. It was so loud that Sonic heard an echo from behind the waterfall. Being worried for Tails, he contacted him.

"Tails? Are you alright?"

The fox put away the Emeralds and pressed his communicator to respond. "I'm in a tight predicament here. I… WHOA!" he yelled as he dodged another laser.

"What's going on in there?"

"There's a robot trying to take the Emeralds away!"

Sonic's eyes widened. "What?! You're not kidding, are you?!"

"If I was kidding, would I be panicking at this point?!" Tails dodged more lasers as he spun his tails to fly.

"Stay still, you yellow pest!" Rocco bellowed as he fired another shot.

"Yikes!" Tails flew over his head as fast as he could, ignoring the idea of swimming back.

"Get back here!" Rocco trudged through the water in pursuit of Tails. Luckily for the robot, he was impervious to water.

Unluckily for Tails, he was catching up as he exited the cave. He flew past the waterfall and shook the water off his fur again. With not a lot of time to think, he tossed both the yellow and green Emeralds to Sonic.

He was about to question why Tails did that, but he unexpectedly saw Rocco emerge from behind, so he quickly hid the Emeralds in his quills quickly. Then, the robot grabbed Tails with his right fist.

"AAH!" he cried within Rocco's grasp.

"Tails! Let him go now!" Sonic demanded.

"I don't have time to listen to a rodent like you. Now with the fox in my hand, I'll lock him up as prisoner along with the others. And he'll have no choice but to surrender the Emeralds to my master!"

Sonic was about to say something again, but he saw Tails with pleading eyes, signaling to stay quiet. He mentally nodded at his friend, still worried about him.

"Now then… I must make a quick trip to my master's headquarters. Don't bother looking for us or you'll be sorry, pest!" threatened the red mech. He flew off with Tails in tow who cried for help.

Sonic glared at the runaway robot, eyes narrowed, teeth shown, and fists clenched. _"That bastard's not getting away with this. I've got to rescue Tails and fast."_ With determination pumping in his chest, he raced off to follow the two. "I sure hope Mario and Luigi are having better luck than us," he said to himself.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _A new enemy appeared from Myster Edge's army, and he kidnapped Tails! However, he was unaware that Sonic has the Emeralds. Will the hedgehog save his best friend? Only time will tell. But in the next one, we will return to Mario and Luigi's side who have their own rescue mission. Stay tuned for Chapter 20…_

 _Once again, thanks for being patient with this update. And as always, thanks for reading! Leave a review, follow/favorite the story to catch up on the plot, and I'll see you guys next time! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Tayce T. is the cook in_ _Paper Mario_ _(N64) who can make unique dishes for Mario during his adventure._

 ** _(2):_** _I wanted to explain the purpose of these warp pipes. Yes, Sonic can use Chaos Control for quick teleportation, but almost everyone else can't. That's where they come into play. The same applies for Mario and his friends, except they would use a Power Star to unlock the pipe._

 ** _(3):_** _The Cape Feather was first introduced in_ _Super Mario World_ _. Mario and Luigi would have capes to help them fly across levels. And for this story, I decided to use this power-up as their way to reach Vanilla Dome._

 ** _(4):_** _Initially, I was going to have Green Hill Zone for the location, but I switched it to Emerald Hill as an Easter Egg to reference the first level Sonic and Tails played through in_ _Sonic 2_ _._


	21. Ch 20: Learning from the Enemy

_A/N:_ _I don't know if you guys noticed, but whenever a story is uploaded, it doesn't send you the notification. I've seen this problem over the last couple of days when I was reading other people's fanfics. The same will probably happen when this chapter gets posted, but chances are you had to manually search for my story to see if the update even occurred. Hopefully this problem can be fixed ASAP._

 _But on a more positive note, I've finished my second year of college, and this story has reached over_ _ **3000 views**_ _! I want to thank you guys so much for this accomplishment, and I hope you'll be looking forward to what's coming up next in the adventure. So without further ado, on with the story!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I only own the plot and my OCs. The Mario and Sonic characters are respectively owned by Nintendo and Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 20:** Learning from the Enemy

 _Location: Vanilla Dome_

Had it not been for the pesky Super Koopas, the Mario Bros. and Colombo would have flown to the entrance to Vanilla Dome easily in less time than it would take to travel by foot, unless they were Sonic. **_(1)_** What made their adventure longer was getting hit by those shell-less, flying turtles and losing their cape power-ups. Despite the loss, they trekked through Donut Plains as if it was no problem. Along the way, they utilized a couple of Fire and Ice Flowers to pelt and freeze the various obstacles and enemies. There were no signs of ghosts, so the Poltergust 6000 remained untouched. It didn't take long for the three to reach the cavern entrance. Princess Peach and the other prisoners had to be in the dome somewhere…

"Here we are again. Vanilla Dome." Mario sniffed the delightful aroma as he walked inside. "Ahh, nothing beats the fresh scent of vanilla. It always reminds me of Peach and her delectable cakes…"

Luigi rolled his eyes, but had a smirk on his face from Mario's comment. He followed his brother with Colombo by his side. He grabbed the Poltergust's hose and turned on the flashlight to brighten the region up ahead. And in the case a ghost pops out of nowhere, he has the Strobulb ready to stun the paranormal creatures. After traversing through long corridors of darkness full of Swoopers, Koopa Paratroopas, and Buzzy Beetles, they continued running until they reached one of the deepest underground areas of the dome. Soon enough, they came across the Vanilla Lake. **_(2)_**

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped for attention.

"What is it, boy?" Luigi looked down at him.

The Polterpup pointed his paw down below the water. Within the distance, he saw an underwater tunnel.

"Nice job, Colombo! I bet this tunnel will lead us to Peach and the others," said Mario.

"Are you sure they're down there?"

Mario thought about it for a second. "Actually, I'm not sure. But it looks as though we need to swim down there. I don't see anywhere else we can go."

Still feeling unsure, Luigi looked all around him in high and low places. There weren't any other caves or tunnels to traverse. Eventually, he turned back to Mario. "Hmm, you may be right, bro. It does seem logical that Edge would keep them captive in the deepest part of a dungeon. That, and what you said before is true. There is nowhere else to go."

"Alright then. Let's dive right in!"

With that, Mario dove head first into the lake. Colombo followed the man in red as he used his paws to gain momentum. Taking a deep breath, Luigi placed his hands together, closed his eyes, and dove right after. The three swam through the passage with Mario leading the way. After a couple of minutes, they reached the other side and quickly floated up to the surface as they gasped for air.

"Bleck! Ppbth! Oh, good lord! I thought that I was going to drown!" Luigi spitted water as he kicked his legs and waved his arms to keep his head above sea level.

"Easy there, Luigi. It wasn't that bad."

"Well in my defense, I'm not that good of a swimmer, nor can I hold my breath underwater for so long."

"Well the good news is that we made it out of there." Mario searched to find land. "Look! Over there!" he pointed to his left, acknowledging another cavern entrance. "Maybe the dungeon is down there somewhere."

"Looks like the only way to go. I'm right behind you," Luigi responded as he swam towards shore.

After getting out from the water and drenching their hats dry, the brothers walked forward into the next tunnel. Colombo walked ahead of them while Luigi turned on his flashlight again.

To give him some extra comfort, Mario placed his left hand on Luigi's shoulder. "You okay, Luigi?"

He looked down at Mario to see a comforting smile on his face. It made him feel a bit relaxed knowing that his brother is beside him. "Yeah, Mario. Just happy that you're with me right now. If I was in the cave alone, I'd probably be shaking in fear."

Colombo was hearing the brothers' conversation, and he let out a soft whine as he stopped walking.

Luigi turned to the Polterpup. "Oh, don't get me wrong, _cagnetto_. **_(3)_** I also feel better when you're in my company. The point is that I'm more nervous if I have to venture alone. That's how I felt when I went excavating for the Dark Moon pieces back then. And I remember I had to chase you for multiple reasons…"

Colombo whimpered sadly again, feeling guilty about the times they encountered each other. He remembered the first time when he ate the special key to unlock the Hollow Tree of the Haunted Towers. Then, he stole one of the clock hands that was needed to surpass the Clock Tower Gate of Old Clockworks. Lastly, he took the Treacherous Mansion key, leading to another annoying Polterpup capture. It took three ghost hunts to successfully lock up the playful pooch inside Gadd's vault. Once he returned to normal, he apologetically walked up to Luigi to express his guilt for being a constant disruption.

"Colombo," he uttered as he picked him up. "I understand you still feel bad about that. But you were under the influence of the King Boo's doing. It wasn't your fault and I know you didn't mean to attack or harass me on purpose. You were just the being the playful pup you are right now. And honestly, I like you like that."

Moved by Luigi's kind words, he licked his face and wagged his tail. Both brothers got a laugh out of that. The green man set him down as they went back to walking.

"Like I said before, I'm glad you guys are with me right now."

"And like I promised, I'll stick with you no matter what happens. And I bet Colombo has the same feeling, too."

The Polterpup barked happily to confirm Mario's claim.

"Well then, let's keep going."

About ten minutes elapsed as the trio continued walking through the underground cavern. But as soon as Mario was about to turn a corner, he stopped and hid behind the wall. That's because he noticed two robots standing in front of a cavern door.

"What's wrong, Mario?" Luigi whispered.

"There are guards up ahead. Stay quiet for a second," he responded. Luigi nodded back while Colombo became invisible. They peeked towards the robots and eavesdropped on the conversation they were having.

"Man, I'm so bored. I can't believe Edge demoted me to guard duty!" That statement came from Slimmer, the one who handed his boss the fifth Chaos Emerald.

A short, orange robot with a spherical body and detachable claws looked up to the lanky robot. Because of his unique hands, he was known as Clawdio. (Pretty stupid, right?) "As if you were told to do this 24/7. You shouldn't be complaining. I've been standing and sitting here for the last several days. Doing what? _Nothing_. Nothing but guarding the stupid prisoners we locked up earlier."

"Just out of curiosity, remind me again why they're locked up, Clawdio?"

"It's so that the green guy and his jumping brother can waste their time rescuing their friends. And don't forget about the blue rat and yellow multi-tailed fox. They're acquaintances with the two and they'll do anything in their power to interfere with our master's plan."

"Oh… Wait, why are we wasting their time?"

The orange robot groaned. "Ugh, you're so idiotic. It's to stall them while the generator creates more copies of the Dark Shards. With enough Dark Shards, their negative energy will be equivalent to the power of the original Dark Moon. And that energy can be transferred to the scepter that Edge holds. That way, he'll be able to summon the Oblivion. But in order to cause the black hole to appear, he must have not only a sufficient amount of dark energy the Shards possess from the Dark Moon fragments, but all seven Chaos Emeralds as well."

Slimmer still seem confused with the situation. "Well, why create Shards when we can use the Dark Moon fragments?"

"Those Possessor Ghosts keep those Dark Moon pieces to become more powerful than ever. You saw how ghastly they look after being powered up. Not only do they possess dark, strong energy, but so will Edge's mighty staff which is where those shards come into play. It's a win-win to complement them."

"But I still don't know why the Possessors have to guard the fragments in the first place. Why not just leave them here at his headquarters?"

Clawdio facepalmed himself. "It's part of the _stalling_ portion of the plan, you imbecile! That green guy is going to use his ghost hunting experience to track down the Possessors to claim those Dark Moon pieces back. The Possessors are spread out in different regions to, at the very least, distract him. Secondarily, their duty is to stop that weakling. Nonetheless, he will use up too much of their time to fight those strong ghosts, along with the underlings, that it will be too late to stop Edge afterwards. Once he has possession of all seven Emeralds and enough Dark Shards, it's bye-bye to every cruel world in existence."

Mario and Luigi, who heard every word the orange robot said, had their eyes wide open as they shared a glance. They couldn't believe that Edge would come up with such a complicated, yet disastrous plan to get rid of all worlds.

"Mario, what do we do?"

"We need to distract them somehow."

An idea sparked in Colombo's mind as he remained in his invisible state. Silently, he tiptoed up to the robots. Trying his best to stay quiet, he did something that caught everyone off guard. He took one quick glance at Slimmer and bit his leg.

"YEEOOOWWW!" cried the chrome figure. Mario and Luigi returned their gaze back at the robots who were baffled on what just occurred.

"What just happened?"

"I don't know! It felt like someone bit me!"

"Probably a stupid fly or something."

"No way. This bite felt large and more painful than what a fly would cause."

"You're over-exaggerating, Slimmy. Get over it."

"Over-exaggerating? Try getting bit by something with teeth the size of a shark, and you'll see why this freaking hurts!"

"Why do I even put up with you? You're one of the most stupid, despicable minions of Edge's squad."

"Hey! At least I found a Chaos Emerald for him. Unlike me, you're so short and weak that you got stuck as a guard."

"At least I have the brains and common sense to even do my job. I don't go around asking the boss for some type of praise or reward."

While they were arguing, Colombo executed his next plan of action by biting Clawdio's hand. Despite having no physical teeth, his bites still hurt like a bitch. Speaking of which…

"OWWWW! Damn it! What was that?!" he yelled as he shook his left claw in pain.

"I told you there's something going on here!"

"You never said anything that something was going on. All you did was tell me that someone bit your leg."

"And that someone happened to bite your claw really hard. Checkmate, jerk."

"Oh, shut up, stick legs."

Out of nowhere, the two heard an echoing bark within the caves. It came from Colombo, but they were unaware of his presence because he was still unseen.

"That's Colombo! I thought he was with us!" exclaimed Mario quietly.

"Maybe he's trying to distract the guards," thought Luigi.

And that's exactly what Colombo intended on doing. The canine reappeared and barked twice. He managed to gain the robots' attention. He growled in front of Slimmer and Clawdio, showing his white ghost teeth and an intimidating stare.

"Hey! I bet that pup's the one who bit us! He must have been invisible to try to hurt us while in hiding."

"What do we do now?"

Clawdio turned back at Slimmer with a look that says _'Are you kidding me?'_ "We're gonna catch the dog. We'll throw him in the pound with the rest of the captives."

"But he's a ghost. He can easily walk through walls and those cell bars. What's the point of locking…"

"JUST RUN AFTER THE GHOST DOG, IDIOT!"

"Bark! Bark! Grrr!" Colombo growled as he took off on a wild ghost chase. Both the guards ran from their resting place in pursuit of the Polterpup. As soon as the coast was clear, Luigi and Mario ran up to the intersection where they looked to their right and saw the robots sprinting after Colombo.

"I sure hope Colombo doesn't get into too much trouble. I don't want those robots to harm _mio cane_."

"Sometimes he can be so unpredictable. But at least he's smart about his actions. I'm confident that he's going to be okay. Not only is he stalling time, but he distracted the guards away from their spot."

They turned their attention back to the door in front of them. "I wonder what's behind here."

"Hopefully, the Princesses and everyone else is in there. Hmm…" Mario gazed at the lock for a moment. "Maybe we can use our fire power to burn this lock down."

"Good idea, bro."

Taking out another pair of Fire Flowers from their inventory, the guys absorbed their power-ups until their hats and shirts changed to white while their overalls became their respective colors. One by one, they threw alternating fireballs of red and green. Twenty fireballs later, the lock disintegrated from the intense heat.

Mario stepped forward and pushed the door open. He then looked back at his younger twin. "Ready, Luigi?"

Luigi took out his flashlight again as he gave his response. "Ready as I'll ever be, Mario." And so, they plodded forward through the entrance, hoping that Peach, Daisy, and the other prisoners were on the other side.

But as they entered, a pair of white eyes spied on the brothers from behind. For the brothers, they were unaware of the presence behind them. The entity secretly followed them, remaining quiet without making a single footstep…

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Sorry if this chapter's short because I was on a time crunch to get it finished. But stay tuned for the next one, because we'll be encountering a familiar foe. Will Mario and Luigi rescue the princesses and their friends? Can Colombo distract the robots long enough to help them escape? And who's spying on the brothers as they delve deeper in the cave?_

 _Once again, I appreciate the support for taking the time to read my story. Be sure to follow/favorite if you want to catch up on updates (that is if they even send you the notification) and write a review to let me know how I did. See you guys later! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Super Koopas are basically Koopa Troopas without shells, but they have capes to fly around the levels. They first appeared in Donut Plains in_ _Super Mario World_ _._

 ** _(2):_** _There's ambiguity here because I'm referring to the water region inside Vanilla Dome when you enter that World on the map in_ _SMW_ _. I am NOT referring to the Vanilla Lake courses in_ _Super Mario Kart_ _._

 ** _(3):_** _Italian for 'doggy'. Luigi used this word when he befriended the Polterpup during the conclusion of_ _Dark Moon_ _._


	22. Ch 21: Grouchy Encounter

_A/N:_ _Happy late Mother's Day, everyone._

 _The good news is that the email notifications seem to be working again. As for the story, we got ourselves a long, action-filled chapter as a battle will commence! This is the first time since Ch. 10 that I wrote up a fight scene. Who is the featured boss? Read to find out!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I do not own Mario and Sonic. I only take credit for my OCs and the storyline._

* * *

 **Chapter 21:** Grouchy Encounter

With Colombo keeping the robot guards busy, Mario and Luigi made their way inside the door they were guarding. Little did they know they were being followed…

"Great. More darkness… And there's still no sign of our friends anywhere," Luigi groaned as they walked further into the cavern. Even with the flashlight, he still felt uncomfortable.

"I wonder how Sonic and Tails are doing. Either they found the Chaos Emerald, or one of Edge's minions took it before them," said Mario.

"Maybe they're also busy fighting the robots, assuming if they run into them."

"Can you call them on your 3DS right now?"

"Hmm… Let me check." Luigi detached the flashlight from the Poltergust's hose and handed it to Mario. He took out the dual screen device out of his back pocket. He turned on the software and was about to contact Tails' communicator. However, he noticed something strange on the screen. "That's weird."

"What's wrong, bro?"

"I don't know. I think this thing's picking up some type of high frequency or power nearby." He showed him a map of the Vanilla Dome Caverns. There were two dots with arrows, one red and one green, that tracked their current location and the direction they were heading. But what caught both of their eyes was a set of white lines in the form of a circle flashing on the screen. Its appearance was a couple yards south of their standing point.

"Do you think it's the Dark Moon piece? I remember E. Gadd mentioned he invented the Parascope to find paranormal activity and the locations of the fragments. And that's what helped you go through the mansions in Evershade."

Luigi's knees started shaking in fear. "If that's the case, that means a Possessor ghost, or any ghost, could be close to us right now. The question is, do we go back to check, or do we continue forward? Oh, boy. I really don't want to be freaked out, but I can't help myself," he shuddered, referring to his legs that were still moving with distress.

"I understand how you're feeling. I felt that way back when King Boo ambushed me by surprise and kidnapped me. I was about to turn in that one night and all of a sudden, I get the chills as if someone was watching me from behind. Then those damn Boos came out of nowhere to corner me in my bedroom. And when I turned around to try to harm them with light, I saw his dark purple eyes. And before I knew it, he trapped in that painting for what seemed to be an eternity." **_(1)_**

Luigi shivered. "And I remember how scared I was when I saw you got captured again." He gulped nervously before continuing. "I was afraid I was going to lose you again."

Mario was trying to find a way to get out of this awkward conversation. "…Let's not talk about that again. For now, let's call Sonic and Tails."

Luigi nodded as he searched for Tails' communicator contact. They waited for a call as the ringing tone played from the speakers. But after twenty seconds, there was no response.

"That's odd. Tails always picks up his calls instantly. I don't know why he didn't answer."

"Try calling Sonic's communicator," Mario suggested.

Luigi went to Sonic's contact and they waited again for an answer. This time, the recipient picked up.

"Hello?" he asked as his face was shown on screen.

"Sonic? It's us, Mario and Luigi. We were wondering if you and Tails found the Chaos Emerald in your world."

"Well, we did find the green Emerald, so now we have two in our possession."

"Really? That's good at least," replied the taller brother.

"Actually, Luigi, there's one problem."

"What's that?"

"You see, we traveled to Emerald Hill to find it and Tails came across a cavern hidden behind a waterfall. He went alone and was ambushed by one of Edge's robot followers inside. Then, Tails came out and tossed me the Emeralds we kept. But as soon as he did, he got kidnapped."

"What?! Is he okay?" Mario asked with worriment.

"At this point, no. Listen, I'm still running as we're talking. I'm following the robot who took off with him."

"I bet that's why he didn't pick up our call."

"Luckily, that idiot doesn't know that Tails handed me the Chaos Emeralds. Meanwhile, I was wondering how you guys were doing. Any sign of our friends yet?"

"Not yet. But my 3DS picked up some strange signals nearby in the Vanilla Dome. We were discussing whether it could be the Dark Moon piece that's here, or some ghosts waiting to spook us." Luigi turned his head back at the door and away from Mario for just a second. "At this point, I'm not sure if we should turn back to where we started, or if we should keep going." While talking to Sonic, he didn't expect what was about to happen next.

Mario flinched when he thought he heard a voice deep within the passage. He squinted his eyes and shined the flashlight to the path ahead. With curiosity killing him, he walked away from Luigi as he was busy with his conversation. He stopped momentarily when he tried to hear the noise again.

 _"I could've sworn I heard someone. Is it Peach? Or one of Edge's slaves?"_

After a moment of silence, he shrugged and looked back at Luigi who was still talking to Sonic. He was about to return to his side, until something held him back. He felt a strange sensation on his right arm.

"What the... MMMMPPH!" His mouth was covered and tried to flail from whatever was restraining him. Unfortunately, he dropped the flashlight in the process and was taken away into the darkness where he was out of sight.

"By the way, have you seen Edge anywhere?" Sonic asked the man in green.

"We haven't seen him either. We only came across these two robots who were guarding a door. Colombo was smart enough to distract them as we entered."

"I see. So if Colombo's sidetracking them, now it's just you and Mario?"

"Yeah, and he's…" he paused when he looked to his right only to see that Mario wasn't there. Instead, he found his flashlight, still lit, on the ground. Luigi's eyes widened as he was not only confused, but frightened that he's suddenly alone.

"…Luigi? You there?"

He turned to back to see Sonic with a concerned look. "Yeah?"

"What's the matter?"

"Mario's not…" He got interrupted with a scream that echoed through the dark corridor. It sounded familiar to him. Because it came from his older brother.

"LUIGIIIIIII!"

It was so loud and unexpected that he bobbled the 3DS in his hands and almost dropped it.

"What the hell was that?" Sonic asked with large, curious eyes.

Luigi didn't respond to his question, but he called out. "Mario?! Where are you?!"

"Wait a minute, I thought Mario was with you."

"He was! But when I turned around, he wasn't there! I gave him my flashlight as I was speaking to you and he must have gone ahead or something when I wasn't paying attention. The next thing I know, the flashlight was on the floor, and Mario's not here!"

"Where is he now?"

"That's what I was wondering! Oh, Mamma Mia… What if he gets hurt because of me?! It will be all my fault!"

"Luigi! Calm down!" Sonic can understand why Luigi was panicking, but he didn't want to see him like this. "Just move forward and try to find him. He didn't go back to where you guys came from, did he?"

"No, but I'm not sure because I didn't keep a close eye on him. But it seems likely he's up ahead. Someone must have taken him. Or he found something dangerous."

"Just take a deep breath, and remain calm. It's worked for me and Tails whenever we're stuck in a dilemma. And that's the situation I'm in right now as well."

Luigi did what he was told and exhaled deeply.

"How you feeling now?" the hedgehog asked.

"I feel a little better than before," Luigi replied honestly.

"Good. Now go find Mario and fast. Meanwhile, I've gotta rescue Tails. Call me again whenever you get the chance."

"Thanks Sonic, and good luck to you."

"No problem, dude. I'll talk to 'ya later." Sonic turned off his communicator and his image disappeared off the 3DS screen.

Luigi closed the device and stored it in his pocket. He reattached the flashlight as soon as he heard his brother's voice again.

"LUIGIIIIIII! HELP!"

"I'm coming, Mario!" Luigi yelled before he took another deep breath. After letting it out, he curled his fingers to grip the flashlight and put on a determined face.

"Just hang on, bro. Oh, I pray to Grambi that you're safe…"

Without hesitation, the man in green sprinted down the rocky path.

* * *

Luigi kept on running. It felt like he was ascending an endless staircase, unable to reach the top step. Eventually, he stopped when he got to the next room. As he caught his breath, he came across a humongous chasm. Within the region, he stood on a bridge that connected to a large, circular platform. There were three more rocky paths that led to the north, west, and east passageways. Down below was another lake that was approximately ten feet deep of water, but was about a thirty foot drop if someone fell off. Luigi peered over the edge of the bridge and noticed an array of fish swimming in the water. Ranging from Porcupuffers to Cheep Chomps, regular Cheep Cheeps and the dreaded Big Berthas, looking at all the water creatures made him uneasy.

 _"I definitely do_ _ **not**_ _want to be swimming with the fishes in here,"_ he thought fearfully. _"I've already had enough experiences getting hurt and eaten alive by them."_

He made his way towards the center of the room. The place was eerily dark with only a few lit torches found on the walls of the cavern. Still worried for his older brother, Luigi put a hand near his mouth and called out his name.

"Mario?" he said with a quivering tone.

Nothing. Nothing but the sounds of his voice trailing off from the echoes. He waved his flashlight all around the cave. It seemed like there was no sign of Mario, nor any of Edge's robot and ghost henchmen.

Suddenly, the rocky bridges started to shake. Luigi veered his head and noticed that the four pathways started to move away, causing large gaps between the passageways and the center platform. His jaw started to jitter as he had a bad feeling about what was happening. If only Mario was here to comfort him. He tried calling for him again.

"Mario! Mario, where are you?!"

This time, he got a response. "Luigi!"

He looked around to find out where the distress call came from.

"Mario?!"

"I'm up here!"

The green plumber shined the light towards the ceiling and went into utter shock when he saw his brother tied up in ropes, dangling from above.

"MARIO!" he gasped out loud.

"Luigi! Thank goodness you're here!" the red clad man replied with a mix of relief and anxiety.

"How did this happen to you?"

"While you were talking to Sonic, I heard a voice coming from the far end of the cave. So I left you to inspect. When I was about to head back though, someone took me and tied me up here!"

"Well who captured you?" he asked, not realizing that someone appeared from behind.

Mario noticed this and tried to warn him. "Luigi! Look out!"

But it was too late.

"Huh?" He turned around and before he could catch a glimpse, he was pushed to the ground by the entity. "WAHHH!"

"No! Luigi!"

He fell on his stomach and quickly turned around. His facial expression became surprised with the one who harassed him. It was a Possessor. Specifically, it was the Grouchy Possessor, the one Luigi faced in the Gloomy Manor's Cellar when the entity took over the soul of a spider queen. The boss had a white outercoat, a horn at the top of its head, individual white lines to mark his increased strength, and the Dark Moon piece inside its body.

"Oh, b-b-boy…" he stuttered.

Grouchy roared loudly causing Luigi to cover his ears from the ear-pitching shriek. The next thing he did was dive below the platform and into the water. Luigi removed his hands and walked over to the edge. He looked down at the lake once again, wondering what the Possessor was planning.

"Luigi? What's going on?" Mario's voice shuddered when he watched the scene from up high.

"I don't know, Mario," he answered truthfully.

Then, the two plumbers heard several waves crashing against the walls as water whooshed and whirled down below. Suddenly, the water rose until it was about level with the lonely platform. Luigi took a couple steps back when he noticed a couple of Cheep Cheeps swimming near the edge. Subsequently, a purple Cheep Chomp jumped out of the lake and bounced onto the ground with a lot of force that it made Luigi fall on his bottom.

"Yow! My goodness, that's a large fish!" he yelled. He soon noticed that the stubborn creature had an ominous white and purple glow around its body. That could only mean one thing. The Grouchy Possessor is controlling the Cheep Chomp!

"Luigi! Be careful!"

The green clad plumber gulped and got up from his shaking legs. He clutched the flashlight with both hands and prepared for what was about to be his first ghostly boss fight since he captured King Boo from the Dark Moon quest.

The Cheep Chomp may have goat-like eyes, but his expression was angry, no doubt. He waved his white side fins and lunged right at the scared hero.

With his quick instincts, he rolled out of the landing spot to avoid getting plunged. He dodged a second time when the Cheep Chomp attacked with the same strategy. Luigi began to run away, trying to think of a plan to lure the boss out of the fish's body. He didn't have any extra Fire Flowers, so killing it with fireballs was not an option. Ice Flowers couldn't freeze the big fish, and Boomerang Flowers proved useless when he tried to whack it with the blue projectiles, only for them to break in half. Plus, he didn't have any Super Stars to become invincible to take it down easily.

"Damn! How does this fish manage to stay out of the water for so long? It should be gasping for water to breathe!" Mario yelled as he was enthralled by the action taking place.

"I wish I knew, but all I can do is run away from this torture!" Luigi responded back.

"Running away from this problem isn't going to solve anything!"

"It's worked for me in the past, so I might as well do it to distract him or tire him out! Either way, I'm _freaking_ scared!"

"Come on, Weege! I know you can do it! Face your fears and don't give up! I believe in you!"

Mario threw out more encouraging words to his brother as he fought against the Possessor. Well, more like he was avoiding the possessed Cheep Chomp pouncing on the rocky stage. Luigi felt more determined, however, as he heard his older bro cheer for him.

After dodging for quite some time, the Cheep Chomp became tired that it stopped flopping. Luigi noticed this lucky break and did what he was best at: jumping. With a talented triple jump and a swift kick of his legs, he perfected a powerful jump attack on the fish's noggin and bounced right off. The impact caused the Possessor to escape the fish and shake its head to regain consciousness. He glared angrily at Luigi as he charged up a purple glow of energy. The green man recognized this charge attack from before, so he prepared himself. After powering up from the negative energy of the Dark Moon piece, Grouchy hovered quickly towards his opponent at a faster speed than Luigi could have imagined. He wasn't as fast as the Blue Blur, but the ghost was speedy nonetheless.

"Whoa!" he cried as he barely dodged the rushing figure. He turned around and noticed the Possessor flying towards him. "EEK!" The next thing he did was flip the metal switch on the Poltergust and a Shriek Shield popped out to guard Luigi's body. It was utilized at the right moment while the Possessor bumped into the barrier, causing him to feel dizzy.

"Luigi! Now's your chance!"

Even with the shield around him, Luigi had covered himself with his arms as extra protection. But when he heard Mario call his name, he realized that Grouchy was defenseless. He got his flashlight at the ready, held the red button down to charge up the Strobulb, and released it to flash a massive amount of light, stunning the white ghoul effectively. He switched to the vacuum hose and turned on the suction power as he pulled the ghost into the nozzle while building up power.

"Come on! Get in here!" But Luigi knew this wasn't going to be easy. He remembered that each Possessor had three layers of defense, with the red form being their last, and most vulnerable, coating. With the Poltergust 6000's Power Gauge filled up to its maximum, he pressed the red button once again to suck up the ghost. Within seconds, the white ghost skin was gone. Now, Grouchy was in its second layer, beaming with an orange color. He returned to the unconscious Cheep Chomp to reclaim its body.

"Mamma Mia! Here we go again!" By the time he finished his statement, the Shriek Shield vanished from its thirty-second time limit. He now had eight Shields left to use before he could get a chance to recharge the vacuum back at E. Gadd's lab. **_(2)_**

The Cheep Chomp shook its body as it was repossessed. The vexed sea creature waved its fins and, once again, targeted Luigi with a large bounce. This time, the bounce caused some of the water to splash against the walls and some of it managed to spill onto the arena.

"Luigi! Watch out for the puddles in case you slip and fall!"

Luigi received Mario's warning and nodded back at him, still being aware of the Cheep Chomp's moves. He avoided the puddles that were scattered on the floor as the fish continued bouncing around to eat up the mustached man. Later, he was standing near the edge of the platform until he saw the Cheep Chomp lunging right at him. But instead of activating another Shriek Shield, he crouched his knees and ducked down. The Cheep Chomp was about to land in the water until an unexpected Porcupuffer jumped in its way. The spiky fish was in the Cheep Chomp's path that the two bloated fishes collided and fell!

"Whoa… How coincidental…" Mario whispered to himself.

The Porcupuffer landed back in the raging waters, but the big-lipped bass tumbled onto the platform. The Grouchy Possessor was forced out of the body again. Luigi got back to action as he saw Grouchy start another powerful charge attack. The ghost rushed at blazing speed while Luigi ran off and leaned back as if he were dodging bullets. **_(3)_**

Unfortunately, the boss suffered a similar fate when he rammed into a Cheep Cheep that emerged from the water. After the collision, the Possessor became dizzy again which opened an opportunity for Luigi to remove the second skin. He repeated his actions by stunning him with the Strobulb and turning on the Poltergust's suction power. Luigi charged it up and successfully got rid of the second layer to reveal the Possessor's red-tinted form.

"That's it, Luigi! You almost got him!"

The ghost hunter respired heavily as he tried to catch his breath from all the running and dodging. Once again, he witnessed the Possessor re-enter the Cheep Chomp and began to bounce frantically with fury.

 _"Just keep him distracted, and he'll either tire out or run into a fish like before. You're almost there…"_

The water creature repeatedly pounced and leaped into the air as he tried to injure Luigi. The hero maintained his plan of running away to cause the Possessor to fatigue himself or make a mistake. Mario remained tied up as he prayed that Luigi can get through this fight without being severely hurt. So far, the worst Luigi faced was being pushed by the Possessor itself. But the red man couldn't help but worry if the ghost had something up his metaphorical sleeve.

The Cheep Chomp showed no mercy as the fish leapt from one spot on the platform to another as it attempted to outsmart the plumber. But as Luigi was dodging the Cheep Chomp, he didn't realize that more fish started jumping out of the lake and onto the arena. However, Mario was aware of this.

"Luigi! Watch out behind you!"

"OH GOD!" Luigi cried as he saw several Cheep Cheeps, a Big Bertha, and another Porcupuffer land on the stage. They started flopping around like the madly-influenced Cheep Chomp and hindered Luigi's path to escape any of its attacks. While trying to dodge, Luigi got ambushed by the Porcupuffer before he could press the green button to defend himself with another Shriek Shield. "OWWW! Stupid spikes… That hurt!" he groaned with his body planted on the ground.

Mario cringed he saw some of Luigi's clothing ripped from the attack. "Come on, Luigi! Get up!"

Luigi's legs twitched before he could get back up. But as he lifted his head, the next thing he saw was an open mouth.

"Oh, sh-" Luigi couldn't even finish his statement as the Cheep Chomp swallowed him whole.

"LUIGI! NO!"

"Hey! Let me out!" he yelled from inside.

Mario was horrified that his brother was in trouble. He couldn't stand being helpless so he made his move. He squirmed inside the ropes that kept him immobile. He tried to swing back and forth to break the rope that was hanging from the ceiling. Despite him struggling, Mario was able to fall on the ground. Thankfully, he landed flawlessly without stumbling. Even though his arms were still tied behind his back, his legs were free to run and the first thing he did once he landed was run up to the possessed Cheep Chomp and slammed his boots onto the fish's head.

That caused Luigi to be spat out from the mouth while the Possessor was forced out from the sudden hit.

"Ugh! Gross! I hate getting eaten by fish!" Luigi moaned with disgust.

"Luigi! Look out!"

"Huh?" He turned to his brother's voice and was surprised to find him on the platform instead of midair. "Mario! I… OH GOLLY!" It took a couple of seconds for Luigi to realize that the Possessor was aiming at him yet again with his charge attack. He got up from his feet and ran away from the red-skinned ghost. Mario also had to dodge on the battlefield while avoiding the other fish and the water puddles.

"Hey, wise guy! Come at me!" Mario shouted.

The Possessor took note of the shorter Mario brother and started to hover towards him at full speed.

"Luigi! Send me a shield!"

He knew what Mario was referring to, so he aimed the hose towards Mario, held down the green button, and used the blowing function to shoot a Shriek Shield at his partner. It was shot in time, too. The Possessor was taken aback when he ran into the barrier and became stunned from the impact.

"Go get him, Weegie!"

The ghost hunter charged the Strobulb a third time and flashed the light at the Possessor. With him frozen, Luigi powered up the gauge at maximum power. And when the timing was right, he caught the ghost inside the Poltergust. The vacuum shook rapidly until he fell backwards as the Dark Moon piece came out of the hose. Not only that, but a cell key shot out from the Poltergust as well. Luigi sighed with relief as he stood up. Meanwhile, the water level reduced to its original state, the fish flopped back down into the lake, and the bridges were reconnected with the large platform.

"Luigi! You did it! You were amazing!" Mario complimented as he ran towards him.

"Thanks, M-Mario. I got to be honest, that was probably one of the scariest battles I partook in."

"Well despite how difficult that was, you made me proud, fratello," he said with a genuine smile, causing his younger sibling to smile back.

"Here, let me help you with that." Luigi put away the vacuum hose and used his hands to release his brother from the ropes. "There you go."

"Thanks, Luigi. I was afraid you were going to get hurt. You're alright, are you?"

"Yeah, I am. That is if you exclude the parts where my shirt got ripped and I was eaten alive again. Those Cheep Chomps really freak me out whenever they open their big mouths."

Mario chuckled before he turned to the fallen items found in the center of the room. They walked over to see the Dark Moon fragment glittering with purple sparks while the key glimmered in gold. Mario picked up the key while Luigi held the moon chunk.

"That's two down, four to go," he stated as he stuffed it in his pocket. "Now then, with that key, I bet that can unlock the cell where our friends are trapped."

"I agree with you on that. Now that the question is, where are they?"

"Only one way to find out." He took out his flashlight and turned it on. "So, where do you think we should go?"

Mario looked at the other three bridges that they've yet to cross. "We came from the south, so there's no reason to go back. Hmm… Let's try going north and hope for the best. If they aren't there, we can backtrack and try one of the other caves."

"Sounds like a plan. Okay, Mario. Let's-a-go!" The brotherly duo trekked up the northern bridge now that they've escaped the ghostly fight. Luigi already captured the Grouchy Possessor and claimed the second fragment of the Dark Moon. He was proud that the fight ended well in his favor. But in his mind, he knew that this was only the beginning…

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I had to brainstorm on how I wanted to set up this boss fight. And I got to say, it was fun writing this chapter! I hoped you guys enjoyed it as much as I did. Now, Luigi and Mario are one step closer of recovering the Dark Moon pieces. But before they can head out to another location, their next task is to rescue their friends whom are still stuck inside Vanilla Dome. And speaking of rescuing, we'll go back to Sonic to see how he's going to save his fox friend._

 _Thanks for reading as always! Be sure to follow/favorite the story to catch up on updates and leave a review to let me know how I did in this chapter. And I'll see you guys in the next one! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _This is my take on how Mario was kidnapped prior to the start of_ _Dark Moon_ _._

 ** _(2):_** _Keep in mind that Luigi used up the first Shriek Shield as a demonstration to reveal E. Gadd's newest accessory to the Poltergust 6000. And after using another one in this boss fight, he would have eight left after that moment, considering he had ten to start with since he was given the vacuum._

 ** _(3):_** _Think of this as a cliché of the 'Bullet Dodge' scene taken from_ _The Matrix_ _. I'm not original, okay guys?_


	23. Ch 22: Rescued

_A/N:_ _The chapter title isn't unique, but it's self-explanatory. I didn't know what else to name it. Either way, I hope you enjoy this one!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I do not own Mario or Sonic, and probably never will. I only take credit for my OCs and the plot._

* * *

 **Chapter 22:** Rescued

 _Location: Mystic Ruins_

Rocco flew over to the Mystic Ruins, just in front of the train station, as he carried the captive in his hand. He landed softly as he was getting tired of both flying and the fox's yelling.

 _"We should be far enough from that stupid rodent,"_ he thought to himself.

"Let me go! I said to let me go!" Tails demanded, squirming within his right hand.

Rocco turned to the struggling kit. "Yeah, you've been repeating that for the past fifteen minutes. Shut the hell up, will 'ya?"

"I won't shut up unless you release me or until Sonic shows up to kick your butt!"

"Like that blue rat is strong enough to defeat me or my master. He's nothing but an annoying pest. You know, kind of like how you're acting right now."

"Well you haven't seen what he's capable of. He's going to debunk everything that you just said."

"And how is he going to prove that you aren't annoying?"

"…Screw you, jerk! You know what I'm talking about!"

To this point, the minion still didn't know that the fox handed the Chaos Emeralds to Sonic, who hastened behind to catch up to him. The hedgehog was completely silent, holding back witty remarks to taunt in case the robot caught him following them. At least his fast feet caught up to the two as they landed near the train station.

Sonic was at the apex of the hill where their house stood. He sped down and hid behind a giant boulder. He peeked from behind as he saw Rocco demanding the fox to hand him the emeralds. While watching, he thought about how he was going to take down this jackwad.

"Alright, little one. When I release you from my fist, you are going to give the Emeralds my master desires. If you decide to refuse, then I shall terminate you. If you choose to run away, I will shoot you. Either way, I will make you perish if you do not listen to my commands."

Tails responded by spitting in his mechanical face. However, he wasn't fazed by it. "Like I would do that, buttface."

"You wanna play that kind of game, huh? If that's how you're going to take the bull by the horns, then I'll rip you a new one."

"What the hell are you talking about? That doesn't make any sense."

"Sense? I'll knock the senses out of you! Now shut up and give me the Emeralds!"

"Pfft! I've heard better comebacks from Sonic. At least he knows how to make someone go on the brink of exploding their head off. He's done that to Eggman numerous times, and they never get old." Sonic managed to hear his buddy's comment, making him smirk.

"ARE YOU GOING TO LISTEN TO ME OR NOT, YOU STUPID LITTLE TWIT?! NOW I REPEAT! SHUT UP AND GIVE ME THE EMERALDS!"

"No… And I thought you were going to tell me to 'Shut Up and Dance'," Tails replied sarcastically.

"Urgh! The only one who's going to be dancing is me over your pathetic grave I'm gonna stuff you in! Chaos, you're so annoying!"

Tails squeezed his eyes shut and struggled in Rocco's hand when the robot started to clutch him tighter against his fur. "AAAAHHHHH! STOP IT!"

"NOT UNLESS YOU DO AND SAY WHAT YOU'RE TOLD!"

"What is this, Impractical Jokers?" **_(1)_**

"I'm not joking about anything! But the only thing that's a joke is you right now! NOW GIVE ME THE EMERALDS!"

"Never, Rocco! AUGHHHH!"

Tails screamed loudly when Rocco threatened him again, clenching his hand even tighter, harming the yellow kitsune. Sonic's eyes narrowed at the sight of his best friend getting hurt. Not only that, but it's taken him so long to realize that he was still in hiding when he should be kicking the robot's butt. So he leaned back as he was getting ready to dash. In a quick second, he jumped from behind the staircase and transformed into his spin dash form. Acting as a ball, he shot himself towards the big red robot. His sharp quills managed to create some dents on his right arm.

"OWWW! What the hell?!"

Sonic landed flawlessly as he planted both feet on the ground with one hand stretched out to his side and the other barely touching the concrete sidewalk. He recomposed himself and stood tall with an angry expression.

"YOU! I told you to leave us alone!"

"Well, Mr. Rockhead, or whatever you go by. I'm not leaving without my best friend!"

"And I'm not going to be stopped by some ignorant rat!"

"Ugh… When will you idiots learn that I'm a FREAKING HEDGEHOG?!"

"Until the day I die. And speaking of dying, I might as well…" Rocco didn't bother finishing his statement as he fired a laser from his hand cannon. And Sonic, being the fast hedgehog he was, whipped to the side to avoid the incoming attack. He sidestepped again when the robot fired another laser and started running. As he evaded all the lasers, the Blue Blur zipped through the plains earning close calls and grunts from the enemy, which made him grin playfully.

"HA! YOU'RE TOO SLOW!" he taunted his catchphrase out loud.

Sonic switched to the offensive and dashed into his right arm again. When he made impact, he caught Rocco off-balance with him nearly tripping backwards. Sonic took advantage of this weakness and ran up to him again.

"I hope you like a serving of shoes to the face! I'm gonna bust a 'cap' in your ass, as well!" Sonic finished his horrible pun with a strong kick in Rocco's face.

"ARGGHHHH!" Rocco shouted as he fell to the ground. After the impact, he let go of Tails as he, too, fell onto the dirt. When he tumbled, the fox appeared to be unconscious. Not only that, but he was bruised and scratched from Rocco's retaliation.

Sonic ran up to his fallen friend and tried to wake him up. He kneeled down and rubbed the fox's back. "Tails. Tails, buddy."

Tails moaned a little before he opened his eyes. Still lying on his stomach, he turned around to see green orbs from his blue friend. "S-Sonic?"

The hedgehog smiled when he responded. "Phew. Thank goodness you're awake. You okay, pal?"

Tails didn't answer his question. Instead, he shifted his gaze behind Sonic and noticed Rocco getting back up. His eyes widened as he saw the robot charging his cannon.

"Sonic! Look out!"

He got up quickly from his position and pushed him out of the direction of the cannon's trajectory. And just in time, too. The laser shot right passed the two as it collided with another boulder. It crumbled into a bunch of smaller rocks.

"Damn it! How could I miss that?!"

"Whoa… You saved me, Tails."

"Thank me later. Let's focus on taking down this jerk!"

Sonic smirked. "You betcha!" He then turned to Rocco who was more furious than before.

"GRRR! That's it! You wanna play rough? I'll show you rough!"

He shot another laser which passed between the dynamic duo. They spread out with Sonic running to the right and Tails to the left. Sonic jumped up and executed a homing attack on Rocco's head, still avoiding the lasers he kept shooting. Sonic's hit did some damage and was followed up by Tails. Using his namesakes, he whipped his fluffy appendages to make the enemy trip again. When he fell, the two rejoined and were about to finish him off.

"Tails! You ready?" Sonic asked as he took out the Chaos Emeralds and handed him the yellow one.

Tails caught the gem and held it tightly in his hand. "Let's do it, Sonic!"

Yellow and green shined bright in their hands as they concentrated deeply. Thinking about positive things generated a strong aura between the two friends. By the time Rocco sat up, he realized the scene in front of him. And he spotted the Chaos Emeralds they held.

"Grr… Not on my watch…" he grumbled as he finally stood up. He was about to fly right into them. But as soon as he left his feet, the next thing he heard was a phrase he wished he didn't hear.

"CHAOS CONTROL!" yelled the blue hedgehog. Then, they extended their arms to send out a powerful shock wave at the robot. Using his Time Stop technique, the wave shot right at Rocco and his body was altered with negative colors and immobilization. **_(2)_** He wasn't able to move as he froze in place. He could neither talk, nor walk. And worst for him, he wasn't completely vulnerable. The two released one more burst of power from the Emeralds to obliterate the boss. In a second, the second shock wave blasted through Rocco's metal chest, causing him to spark and explode. Sonic and Tails ducked and got out of the explosive range as they witnessed the defeat of an enemy.

" _Sigh_ , I'm glad that's over with," Tails exhaled in relief. He then felt a hand around his neck and placed on his right shoulder.

"You okay, buddy?" he asked giving the fox a side hug.

Tails smiled. "Yeah, thanks to you, Sonic."

"Heh, it was no problem!" He gave him a thumbs-up gesture with his free hand.

"Although, I do feel a little roughed up from him holding onto me for so long. I think he hurt my ribcage," he murmured as he raised his hand over his stomach.

"Hmm… I think I can fix that." Sonic still had the green Emerald and he held it in front of Tails. He thought deeply again as the object exhibited its healing powers. After a while, nothing happened, which was quite odd. Sonic reopened his eyes as he became confused with the process.

"What's wrong?"

"I was trying to heal your injuries with the Emerald. But I don't know why it's not working."

"Hmm… I don't feel the same kind of energy from the yellow one. I might have to do scrutinize the Emeralds to figure out this problem. Why don't we head back to the Mushroom Kingdom? Maybe E. Gadd can help us."

"I guess so, little bro. But I suggest we should go to the hospital first. At least get you bandaged up from all those cuts and bruises."

"They don't hurt as much as before. But I understand. At least we can take the train to get to Station Square."

"Train? I don't know about that. How about we have another race?"

Tails' face lit up from that. He put on a mischievous look. "A race, huh? Well, I'm not one to back down from that."

"Hehe! And this time, I'll make sure we both run at the same time and instead of me running ahead!" Sonic chuckled.

"At least you remembered," Tails giggled back.

"Alright then. You ready?" Tails nodded as they both got into racing position. "On your mark… Get set… GO!" And the two dashed through the Mystic Ruins and towards the city, laughing along the way during their friendly race.

* * *

 _Location: Vanilla Dome_

The Mario Bros. searched through the north passageway of the room Luigi fought the Grouchy Possessor. However, they ran into a dead end and got ambushed by some pesky Buzzy Beetles. A couple of Ice Flowers and some jump attacks did the trick though. They returned to the arena and headed east. Again, the two had no luck finding the prisoners. But Luigi did get a jump scare when two Greenies screeched in front of him. One of whom took on a whack on Mario's right cheek when he tried to defend himself. And it was too late for Luigi to shoot a Shriek Shield so it ended up being wasted. Nonetheless, he managed to suck up the cheeky ghouls as they were now stuck with the Possessor inside the Poltergust. The only other path they could take was the western region. They've practically searched every nook and cranny inside the caverns. Yet again, they could only hope they were headed in the right direction. After ambling for a long time, Mario broke up the silence.

"My arms feel dead inside. After being tied up for so long, they hurt like hell. Even if I move them, they don't feel stable. Plus, that Greenie did a good punch on me," groaned Mario as he rubbed his bruised cheek.

"I'm sorry, Mario," apologized Luigi. He still felt guilty for letting his guard down and not paying attention to his brother prior to his capture.

Mario took out a Refreshing Herb and swallowed it. Feeling somewhat better, he turned back to his taller sibling. "It's not your fault, Weege. I ended up getting ahead of myself when I thought I heard a noise. That led to me getting kidnapped."

"I just can't believe Grouchy would pull such an act. He must have caused that strange signal we saw earlier. But he was probably invisible at the moment. Then, he managed to use you as bait to lure me in that chasm. He almost got away with it, too."

"Honestly, I freaked out when that Cheep Chomp devoured you. I didn't want to grieve assuming you were gone. So I had to help in some way."

"And I appreciate you for getting me out of there. Otherwise, I'd be fish food. And the 1-Ups would go to waste."

Mario checked his item inventory. "Hmm… we're gonna have to restock our items again. We'll do that after we return to E. Gadd, clean up the Dark Moon piece, and send those ghosts in a safe place."

"And rescue our friends, too."

"That's right. I just wish that-"

"Mario!" Luigi interrupted Mario with a barely audible gasp. They were about to turn a corner until he noticed what was ahead of the following passageway. He pulled his brother back, causing him to question what was wrong.

"What is it, Luigi?"

"Look…" he whispered as they leaned past the wall to take a glance.

At the end of trail was a red door. But there was someone coming out of it. It was none other than the shadow villain: Myster Edge. He exited his private headquarters and locked up the door. In his right hand was his powerful staff that held the Chaos Emeralds. The two looked at each other with big eyes at this revelation. Their prediction was right. The antagonist has five in his possession while Sonic has the other two. If only they could find a way to take them back. Unfortunately, Luigi couldn't come up with any plans. He was more afraid of the fact that if he approached him again, the worst he can probably suffer is another coma. Mario remained quiet, but he was irate on the inside. He narrowed his eyes just looking at Edge and how powerful he has become. As Edge turned around, the brothers scuffled away from the corner to avoid getting caught. But they could hear him hovering towards them.

"Shit… He's coming right at us," swore Mario.

"What do we do, Mario?" Luigi murmured, keeping his voice low.

"We either hope he's not coming down the path, or we have to make a run for it."

"But we can't go back! We searched every place in Vanilla Dome for our friends. If we run away, we'll be even more lost."

"Do you want Edge to find us and possibly hurt you again?!" Mario scowled quietly.

"No…" Luigi mumbled.

"Exactly. I don't want him to you harmed again."

"If only we could become invisible."

Suddenly, as if someone listened to Luigi's plead, the two felt something strange on their arms. Before they could get a word in edgewise, they disappeared into thin air. By that time, they remained silent when Edge rounded the corner. As they kept their mouths shut, they heard him talking to himself.

"By the time I get my hands on the Chaos Emeralds, I can finally construct the Oblivion. But I also need to do it at one of the most sacred places of this universe: Star Hill. And once the Oblivion appears, I'll lure that green loser to help me destroy everything and everyone. No one, and I mean _no one_ , will be able to stop me. Not his so-called heroic brother, not his furry animal friends, not even him."

Myster Edge chuckled morbidly at his ongoing plan whereas Mario and Luigi were in shock as they looked at each other. That is, if they _did_ see each other. They were still invisible. The two were quiet, nonetheless. By the time Edge left and was far away from the brothers, they reappeared.

"That Edge guy is not getting away with this," grumbled Mario.

"Mario, did you do something to turn us invisible?"

"No. Unless I had one of those galactic Boo Mushrooms, I had nothing to do with that."

Just then, they heard a familiar bark. Then, Colombo appeared right in between them!

"Bark! Bark!"

"Colombo! You're back!"

The Polterpup jumped into Luigi's arms and started licking his face. Both plumbers chuckled at that and Luigi eventually set him down.

"Wait a minute," Mario contemplated. "Colombo, did _you_ turn us invisible?"

He nodded and wagged his tail to answer his question.

"So that's why it happened."

"By the way, what happened to those guards who were chasing you?" Luigi asked.

Before Colombo tried to respond, Mario reminded Luigi of their current quest. "That doesn't matter. Right now, let's search for the captives."

"I guess you're right. Come on, Colombo!"

"Bark!"

Now that the Polterpup has reunited with Luigi and Mario, they set off further into the caves. After a minute of walking, they heard some voices up ahead.

"How long has it been now?" said an innocent feminine voice.

"Does it look like I have a watch on me?" responded another female with a rhetorical tone.

"Did you hear that?" Luigi queried.

"Yeah. That sounded like Cream and Rouge. They must be nearby!" Mario responded.

Then they heard another voice, only this one was loud, masculine, and demanding.

"How many times do we have to tell you to SHUT UP?!"

"Tell us all you want. At least have the decency to let us talk with each other. You'd probably do that if you jerks were stuck in prison for days." That sassy remark came from Amy.

Mario and Luigi reached one last corridor and peeked inside. And there they saw two robots standing outside of a cell. And inside were Peach, Daisy, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Blaze, Rouge, and the Toads. Then, Mario whispered a plan to Luigi and Colombo. They nodded at him and began their ruse. Colombo turned invisible again while the guards and the prisoners continued arguing. Just like before, the Polterpup took a huge bite into one of the robots' legs, making him howl in pain.

"OWW! What was that?"

"What are you talking abo-" Colombo bit the other robot, and he yelled from the unexpected attack. "URRGH! DAMN IT!"

The hostages were confused at this random occurrence until they saw the ghost dog appear. Everyone was surprised to see him as he distracted the guards. He ran towards the dead end of the hall to lure them away from the cell.

"Why you little…"

As the guards tried to catch the dog, Mario and Luigi discreetly tiptoed from behind. They were donned in light blue caps and shirts with overalls of their signature colors. Princess Peach noticed this and was about to say their names. All the others were excited to see them again, too. But Mario placed a finger in front of his mouth, signaling them to not give their appearances away. They listened to him and remained quiet, yet curious behind the bars.

Meanwhile, the guards were about to pounce on the Polterpup to catch him. But Colombo growled and vanished.

"What the? Where did he go?"

"I don't know! He was right-"

"HII-YAAAAH!" Mario and Luigi yelled as they kicked the robots from behind and slammed them into the rock wall.

"Hurry! Let's freeze them, Mario!"

They simultaneously threw ice balls in their powered-up form to contain the robots from getting back up. They hurled enough ice to freeze them in a giant ice block. Colombo reappeared at the brothers' side after they finished.

"Mario! Luigi!" Peach called from behind.

They turned around to see the grateful looks on their friends' faces. Mario unlocked the cell with the key and opened the door.

"Masters Mario and Luigi! We appreciate you gentlemen for coming here in the nick of time!" Toadsworth applauded. The brothers told the elderly Toad "you're welcome" before they each went to the princesses.

"Peach! Are you okay?" he asked.

"I'm fine, Mario. And I feel much better now that you're here. Thanks for rescuing us."

Mario blushed at Peach's comment and received a kiss on the nose. He sighed and scratched the back of his head while the princess giggled.

"Luigi? Are you alright?" Daisy asked with concern.

"Never better, Princess," he answered with a smile.

Daisy took note of him wincing a bit. "Are you sure? What happened to your clothes? Did you get hurt from a fight or something?"

"Honestly, yes, I did fight someone. And I did get hurt. But don't worry! It's not that bad."

"Really? Did you and Mario take them easily?"

"Actually, Blaze, Luigi was the one who took him down. It was a Possessor Ghost," corrected Mario.

"What?! You mean one of those big white ghosts with the horns and the dark energy they get from the Dark Moon?" questioned Rouge.

"Yeah. Did someone explain that to you guys?"

"I did!" Toad remarked. "I already filled them on how you fought those ghosts back at Evershade so they have a good idea on how it went down."

"You must have been brave to fight that ghost. How badly did you get hurt?" the pink mushroom girl asked.

"Toadette, I'm fine, honest! I don't want you guys to think about me right now. Besides, Mario helped me out in the fight. Not only that, but we have a mission to stop Edge and his plans!"

"Indeed, I must agree with Master Luigi. But at this point, you two must be tired and worn out from finding us. You should at least get some rest for the night before you can move on to your expedition."

"I guess you're right, Toadsworth. It looks like it's getting late," said Mario as he peered outside the little hole in the wall. "Hey, if you guys are here, what happened to Yoshi, Knuckles, and the other guys?"

"They've taken them away from here," answered Daisy.

"So they were locked up with you guys beforehand?"

"Yes, but Edge's robots and the ghosts took them to other locations, including Dr. Eggman! We don't know where they are now," Peach mentioned.

"But why would he separate the rest of our friends?"

"That's what we were thinking, Mario. I can't help but worry about them."

"By the way, Mr. Mario and Mr. Luigi, have you guys seen Tails?" Cream asked worriedly.

"Yeah! And where's Sonic?!" Amy added.

"Well, about that…" Luigi then got interrupted by a familiar ring tone.

"Where's that coming from?" Blaze wondered.

"Sorry, that's from me." He pulled out his 3DS and looked at the top screen to see the caller.

"Hello? Is that you, Luigi?"

"Professor E. Gadd! Yeah, it's me. Why did you call me?"

"Ho ho! I was checking up on your progress. How's it going?"

"Well, we encountered Grouchy in the Vanilla Dome and we managed to get the Dark Moon piece back."

"Really? That's excellent! I knew I called the right man for the job!"

"You said I was the only ghost hunter you know."

"Either way, I'm proud of you, Luigi. You're one step closer to restoring the Dark Moon again."

"Thanks, Professor. We also managed to find our friends, too. But apparently, Edge took the others to another location. We don't know where they are."

"Hmm… That is another dilemma to deal with. But I'm sure you guys can handle it. Now you guys are probably thinking about getting out of here, right?"

"Yeah. Looks like we have to retrace our steps again."

E. Gadd laughed at his statement. "Ho ho! Don't worry about that, Luigi! I've installed a Pixelator on your 3DS to warp you back to my lab! However, it can only pixelate up to three individuals at a time."

"Oh no… Not the Pixelator again!"

Rouge raised an eyebrow. "What exactly is the Pixelator?"

"You'll see. Believe me, I hate this mode of transportation."

"Get ready, sonny boy! Choose your first three and I'll take them to my bunker!"

Luigi sighed heavily at this as he was not a fan of being transformed into multiple pixels and traveling through subspace only to fall awkwardly at the end of the trip. But since it was the faster way to get back, he agreed with the Professor. As Luigi ended the call, E. Gadd used his technological advances to send a Pixelator Screen from the 3DS to help their friends travel. **_(3)_** First, Toad, Toadette, and Toadsworth were pixelated. The next three were Amy, Cream, and Cheese. Followed by Rouge and Blaze. Then Peach and Daisy. Mario, Luigi, and Colombo were the last ones to travel. As they were transported, the screen disappeared from inside the cell.

Moments later, Myster Edge returned to the deepest region of Vanilla Dome to check on the prisoners. Beforehand, he found out that the Grouchy Possessor was nowhere to be found. He concluded that he was caught by the green clad ghost catcher, putting him in a bad mood. When he reached the prison area, the first thing he noticed was an open cell door. Then, he saw his guards frozen in ice.

Edge growled furiously. "Those damn plumbers helped them escape?! Grr… I knew I should've upgraded my defensive squad. Hmm… they may have rescued those people, but they'll have to find the others as well. And for that green guy, if I catch him trying to retrieve those Dark Moon pieces or the Chaos Emeralds, I'll teach the little wimp a lesson. In due time, Luigi, you will be vital to my plan. And you won't have the guts to stop me."

Unbeknownst to Edge, there was an individual who heard the villain talking to himself. And he listened to every single word.

 _"So that green guy is named Luigi, huh? Well regardless, I've failed to reach him. I have to pinpoint his next location to find him, or else…"_

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Sonic has rescued Tails and will be on their way back to the Mushroom Kingdom. Mario and Luigi have rescued their friends in Vanilla Dome, but they don't know where the others are. By the time they return to E. Gadd's lab, they must determine where they will set out next to find the next Dark Moon piece. Yoshi, Knuckles, Shadow, Silver, the Chaotix, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot are out there in Mario's world, but where? And what about Bowser and Jr.? They've been absent since Ch. 11 when they were unconscious under Edge's attack. So many questions on the missing people, and there's still more to come on Hidden Bravery…_

 _Thanks for reading this chapter! As always, please follow/favorite the story to catch up on updates and leave a review to let me know how I did! I'll see you guys for Ch. 23! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I'm referencing one of my favorite TV shows which follows four best friends who do stupid pranks and challenges to embarrass each other in front of the unsuspecting public. Most of the stuff they do is 'doing and saying what they're told'. If you haven't heard of them, you should check them out!_

 ** _(2):_** _Correct me if I'm wrong, but Tails is not capable of Chaos Control, so I only had Sonic yell out the term. Nonetheless, the fox does know how to use the Emeralds' powers to either find other ones, or even use them in battle. I just wanted the two to take an opportunity to participate in a fight, even though this wasn't as epic as Luigi's ghost encounter in the previous chapter._

 ** _(3):_** _I'm referring to the large Pixelator Screen that appears whenever you finish a mission in Luigi's quest. In Dark Moon, it shows your results, and it would send Luigi back to the bunker. For this story, E. Gadd would help send everyone to the lab with this technique so they wouldn't have to walk all the way back._


	24. Ch 23: Current Situation

_A/N:_ _Happy Memorial Day, everyone. God bless the soldiers who served and protected our country back then._

 _Before we return to Luigi and the gang, we'll be taking a sneak peek at the other parties who were either imprisoned by Myster Edge or have not been seen for a while._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't claim Mario or Sonic, whatsoever. Only the plot and my OCs are owned by me._

* * *

 **Chapter 23:** Current Situation

 _Location: Bowser's Castle_

Ludwig, Iggy, Morton, Larry, and Lemmy stood outside Bowser's bedroom while Kamek tended to the Koopa's most recent wounds. The question is, how did he receive new wounds and how did he end up back in his castle? Well…

During the night of the invasion, Bowser and his troops were unsuccessful at defeating the Mario Bros. and capturing the princess. The Koopa King, alongside Jr., were ambushed by Edge and became unconscious when he interfered the airship battle. After attacking Luigi and escaping with the other hostages, the shadow took the two to his lair. Once they awoken, they were tied up in chairs. Later, Edge discussed his plans on destroying all worlds. He asked them to work for him to help accomplish his goal.

Bowser, however, was only focused on one thing. Well, two things. The first was obvious: to destroy Mario once and for all. And two, the Koopa King wanted to rule the kingdom with Peach by his side. This wasn't a surprise because he only thought of himself. Jr. was on board with his dad's plan as he preferred that over Edge's.

Seeing that Bowser and the bratty Koopa Kid rejected the offer, he was about to send them to the cells where the others were initially held. But Bowser's strength allowed him to rip the chains that restrained him and helped his son out. He lunged at Edge to try to steal his scepter and his power. However, his slow speed put him at a disadvantage as the antagonist trapped him in another purple bubble. Bowser Jr. tried to help his dad out, only for him to be stuck in his own barrier. Edge sneered sinisterly as he banished them from his headquarters and sent them to Dark Land.

The Koopalings happened to find them outside the front door and they alerted the experienced Magikoopa about this. Kamek told Roy and Wendy to take Jr. to his room and ask Kammy Koopa, an elderly, high-ranked Magikoopa, to heal the young kid. He told the others to help carry Bowser, much to their discontent considering how heavy he was. By the time they reached his room, the five waited until they were given their next task. **_(1)_**

Morton opened the door to sneak a peek at Kamek. The blue caped magician was applying a cast to Bowser's right leg. "How long until you're finished in there?"

"Patience, Morton. It takes time to heal a Koopa's bones."

Iggy stood next to Morton and joined in on the conversation. "But you're a wizard. Don't you know how to heal him faster than what those Toads can do at the clinic?"

"You learned the same magic as well. But all of your skills are inferior to mine. Besides, you can't just magically restore someone with a spell. They must be properly taken care of, even if the process takes several days or weeks."

"If you can make him gargantuan all the time to power him up, then you gotta find some way to heal Dad faster!" Lemmy retorted.

"I reiterate, it takes patience and time. Now close the door before a draft comes in."

Morton raised a finger. "Uhh, I thought that only happens if the window was open."

"Just close it!"

"Okay! Sheesh…" The three stepped back and the black-shelled turtle shut the door.

"I warned you not to bother Kamek when he's busy. Every time you guys annoy him, he'll start to flare up," Ludwig scoffed.

"Hey, I just wanted to see if Dad's gonna be alright."

"He'll be fine. Kamek says so."

"What makes you say that?" asked Larry. "For all we know, he'll be lying in bed hopelessly for a month. You remember the last time we tried to push him off his shell? The entire castle fell on top of him! He was out cold in a pinch!"

"Yeah, and that's coming from the guy who didn't even push him back!" Lemmy shouted.

"Well, excuse me! I'm the youngest of you guys, and I was already pooped from the first couple of fights."

"Well, I'm smaller than you and everyone, but I still contributed!"

"You're still as useless as your circus balls…" grunted Morton to himself. He received a mini bomb to the shell. "OWW!"

"Hey, knock it off, will ya?" That came from the feminine Koopaling. She strutted her way with Roy by her side. "I've already got a headache, and you clowns yelling is making it even worse."

"Pfft, what's her beef?" Ludwig received a hard glare from Wendy.

"Eh, Jr. woke up from his blackout. And that's the bad news," Roy answered.

"Is there good news to this?" Iggy raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, Kammy allowed us to leave. That way we don't have to care of the little runt."

"Jr. is too much of a handful to look after. He may be a preteen, but he's still the most despicable, immature Koopa in this castle. Sometimes I question Daddy's trust in him if he's always so demanding and egocentric. He dared to demand me to give him the rest of my cookies because I was snacking on one earlier," Wendy puffed with irritation.

Ludwig rolled his eyes. "I wonder where he gets _that_ from. That's the only thing he cares about."

"Not only that, we had to get him blankets, ice packs, bandages, all the stuff he needs to feel better. But throughout that time, he acts like a dictator and we're his measly peasants!"

"More like a dick-tator," Roy mumbled quietly. He got a few snickers from Morton, Lemmy and Larry.

"Either way, I'm not one to listen to someone bossing me around like he owns the place."

"That's basically King Dad, except he _actually_ owns the place," stated Iggy.

There was someone awkward silence before Lemmy sighed. "I'm so bored. Can't we go do something besides wait out here?"

"As long as it doesn't involve looking after the pipsqueak. Do whatever you want. I'm taking a nap," Roy muttered as he walked away from the others. Wendy shrugged and followed him down the hallway.

Larry turned to the other Koopas. "Anyone up for some video games?" he suggested.

"Sure," they all shrugged as they walked in the opposite direction of where Roy and Wendy went.

* * *

 _Location: Kongo Jungle_

Donkey Kong was relaxing outside his house while Diddy was fetching some bananas from their large hoard. **_(2)_** Since the night of Luigi's party, the two primates remained on Donkey Kong Island when their bananas were stolen from the malign Kremling ruler. With the help of Dixie and Cranky Kong, the four managed to take back their precious collection back to their base. Afterwards, Dixie and Cranky went to the outskirts of Jungle Hijinxs to vacation there whereas the other Kongs decided to kick back at their home.

Diddy Kong jumped down from the treehouse with two bananas in his bands. He got his friend's attention and threw the yellow fruit at the large ape.

"Grooo-hoo! Thanks, Diddy!" DK howled at him.

"Ookie! You're welcome!" Diddy responded as he plopped down on a lawn chair. They both peeled their favorite food and ate them contently. It was a relaxing evening in the jungle as the sun was about to set.

"Sunsets are always nice to see, huh, Diddy?"

"They sure are DK! Nothing beats sitting out, watching it fall until the moon comes out and the stars shine brightly."

"Not even collecting and eating bananas?"

"Ok, you got me there. But still, this is the life."

"I'm with you, buddy. I don't think there's anything that can ruin this evening."

It's too bad Donkey Kong spoke too soon. That's because as they were resting outside leisurely, the bushes behind their treehouse rustled. It didn't bother the Kongs at first. They just assumed the wind was blowing through the trees and plants. Then, the sounds were more audible that it disrupted Diddy's relaxation. He opened one eye and turned his head around.

"Something the matter, Diddy?" Donkey Kong asked despite not moving.

"Hmm… It's probably nothing. I thought I heard something."

"It's probably the wind again. It is breezy here right now."

"True, but I just thought… Eh, never mind." Diddy readjusted himself in his chair before he heard another noticeable rustle. Then, the sound of a twig snapping caught his attention. He screeched in annoyance. "Ok, what's going on?"

DK opened his eyes and turned to the small chimp. "What do you mean? Is there someone here?"

"I don't know. Dixie and Cranky are gone on vacation. And I doubt they'd be back this early."

Curiosity killed the cat… or in this case the monkey, or the ape depending on who you're looking at. The two got up from their seats and passed through the shrubs to find the source.

"Do you think someone is spying on us?"

"If so, who?"

"That's what I'm wondering. Won't know until we find out."

"True. I'll go ahead and check."

Diddy ran in front of the brown-furred gorilla using his nimbleness to jump at the trees and swing from branch to branch. Eventually, he landed in a soft dirt spot and looked around to see where the rustling came from. But before he could look any further, a small object flew right towards the monkey. It managed to pin through his thin fur.

"EEEK!"

"Diddy?!" Donkey Kong heard a loud shriek from his partner and ran through the jungle to catch up to him. "Diddy? Where are you?!" he called.

He managed to reach the spot where Diddy was. But the ape found him unconscious on the ground.

"Hrooo! Diddy! Why are you asleep? Wake up! What happened?"

Just then, the plants rustled again. Donkey Kong got into a defensive stance and growled.

"Okay! Who's playing games here? Come out wherever you are!"

He searched around the area he was in, but was unaware of a gun creeping out from the bushes. DK stopped when he realized the weapon, but it was too late to react as a dart shot at him. The projectile landed in DK's right shoulder.

"HROOOO!" he yelled in pain. He took the dart out and stared at it for a second. "Hold on. Is this a tranquil… Is this a tran… Is this… Grooo…" The ape's words slurred as he started losing focus and balance. His vision started to become blurry as he developed a headache. Soon after, he fell onto the ground next to Diddy and blinked heavily. He could've sworn he saw someone coming out of the same spot the dart was shot. He barely saw the figure approaching him. The unknown person was then followed by a white entity floating in midair. And that was all Donkey Kong remembered before everything turned dark.

* * *

 _Location: Sparkling Waters_ _ **(3)**_

"Grr! Hrrgh… Come… ON! If you ghouls don't let me of here this moment, expect a knuckles sandwich through your stupid faces!" Knuckles bellowed.

"I'm pretty sure you can't punch ghosts. They're transparent and can turn immiscible," Cubot rebutted.

"You mean _invisible_ ," corrected Orbot.

"Yeah, what he said."

"Oh, hush the both of you."

Knuckles kept punching his spiked fists into the locked door for the umpteenth time and he has yet to knock it down successfully. So many jabs and kicks, and Knuckles continued to persevere. But the more he failed at escaping, the more frustrated and exhausted he was. Right now, he was trapped with Yoshi, Cubot, Orbot, and Eggman inside a cargo ship floating in the middle of Sparkling Waters. The ghosts who led them here locked them in a small cabin located at the stern. There were two beds, a small dresser, and a rug on the floor. At least it had a private bathroom as well. There was a window next to the bed where Orbot and Cubot were lying down. Yoshi occupied the other one while Eggman was leaning against the wall beside him, arms crossed over his torso.

Worried about the echidna blowing his temper (again), the green dinosaur hopped off the berth and tapped his shoulder, mindfully avoiding the elbows being thrown back every time he walloped the door.

"Uhh… Knuckles, you're probably tired at this point. Why don't you take a break and-"

Yoshi was interrupted by Knuckles' fury. "Take a break?! I've been trying to get out of this damn room for the last… how many days has it been?"

"Well, everything went hectic in Mobius on Friday," informed Orbot as he sat up.

"That includes all the chaos that creepy shadow guy started. From ruining Station Square to invading the Mushroom Kingdom," added Cubot.

"To Luigi getting hurt and us being held hostage inside Vanilla Dome for three days," whined Yoshi.

"Then that arrogant beast tried to convince me to join his squadron of _my_ robots when he should be bowing down to me!" Eggman rebuked.

"So now it's…" Cubot trailed as he counted his fingers. "Dinner time?"

"Dinner?! Sounds about right! I'm starving!"

"You're always hungry, you big-nosed reptile!"

"Guys! I asked a simple question, and all I got is a bunch of nonsense that doesn't answer it."

"Well, maybe we were trying to explain it slowly so that you would understand…"

Knuckles turned to the red robot with a glare. "You tryin' to freaking sass me? Do you want me to rip your head off your body?" he threatened, punching a fist in his hand.

"Hey! Hands off my henchmen!" Orbot felt relieved from Eggman's defensive statement. "Only _I_ can dismantle his circuits and throw him in the trash heap with the rest of my rejected robots!" His face fell afterwards.

"We were only taken away to this new location yesterday. We've probably been stuck here for a whole day since they separated us with the others!" explained Yoshi.

"By the looks of it though, it's gonna be night in just a few hours," Cubot mentioned as he peered outside the bolted porthole.

" _Sigh_ … And so little time before _he_ takes up the entire bed again," Orbot whispered to him.

"What did you say, Orbot?" Eggman huffed.

"Uhh… Nothing, sir!"

"That's what I thought."

Knuckles struck the door furiously again. "Man! That stupid shadow guy thinks he can do whatever he wants with the Emeralds. And for him to go that deep to destroy all worlds, he could have a better motive than to go with the most clichéd plan for domination or destruction."

"It's as stereotypical as Bowser trying to take over the Mushroom Kingdom and kidnapping the princess every other week. And that gets repetitive and tiring all the time," Yoshi muttered.

"The same could be said when the boss wants to build his empire back in our world. And yet it's always the same because Sonic comes in and ruins his plans!" emphasized Cubot not thinking about keeping his voice down in front of Eggman.

"Thanks for reminding me, you square-headed dolt," he grunted as he slammed his fist on him.

"Arrgh! It was no problem, matey!"

"Oh dear. His voice chip is deactivated again. He's back in his pirate phase again," complained Orbot. ** _(4)_**

"How appropriate considering we're on a pirate ship now," said the dinosaur.

The red creature grumbled. "This would have been an appropriate time to actually use the communicator Tails devised for me."

Orbot scratched the top of his round noggin. "What does that mean?"

"It means I could have called him to tell us where we are now."

"Then contact the little nerd!"

"First of all, don't call Tails a nerd. He may be smart and too technical with his word choice, but at least he knows how to act like a smart guy, unlike you." Robotnik growled at him, to which Knuckles ignored. "Secondly, I'm not wearing it right now." He showed off his bare wrist indicating that he's helpless.

"So why don't you have it?"

Knuckles didn't answer at first. Instead, he had a sheepish look on his face.

"Well?" Eggman was impatient.

"It… it's broken."

"Broken? How so?" Yoshi questioned.

He folded his arms and closed his eyes to avoid looking at anyone. "Let's just say that… Back at Luigi's party, I wanted to see something if it would work or not. Turns out that communicators don't float in soda."

All four of them facepalmed simultaneously.

"It was a mistake, okay?! I just wanted to experiment it!""

"Seriously, what kind of idiot tests to see if their watch can float in cherry soda?" Eggman dared to ask.

"Actually, it was lemon lime."

They all groaned at him again.

"What?!"

"Apparently, it takes a special kind of idiot to even think about such a dumb move," Orbot whispered so that he wouldn't hear him.

"Kinda like Eggman when he always creates robots that can be easily beaten by Sonic?" Cubot's openly spoken comment earned him another slammed fist from the doctor.

"Aww… Now I'm hungry," Yoshi whined. He plopped back on the bed, both bored and hungry as he mentioned earlier.

To his selfish needs, Eggman grabbed Orbot and Cubot's heads and threw them both on the carpet. The two moaned from the pain as the fat scientist laid down in a relaxed position. As for Knuckles, he resumed his physical breakdown with the door while suffering a mental breakdown himself. It may be too difficult to escape. But that's not going to stop the headstrong enchil-, I mean, echidna.

* * *

 _Location: Evershade Valley_

Evershade Valley was perpetually dark, yet fitting, for the setting considering it's the homeland of the many ghosts that reside here. **_(5)_** The irony for this location, however, was that it has been dark for the last several days, but the moon doesn't shine from above. That's because, well, you know. Because of the Dark Moon's disappearance, clouds of thick, purple fog floated in the troposphere, covering the entire region, excluding Gloomy Manor. And the hostile ghosts have been terrorizing the households. This was not the most ideal place to be in at this moment. But it's unfortunate for the group of prisoners who were sent here by Edge's Greenies.

Earlier, on the day the prisoners were separated from Vanilla Dome, Edge revisited Evershade to confront them. Silver and Shadow tried to attack Edge and reclaim the Chaos Emeralds. But without having one themselves, the hedgehogs were both powerless compared to the purple Shadow Spirit. Vector, Espio, and Charmy tried their best to help, but likewise they all failed. Soon after, Edge used the power of the Emeralds to trap them into paintings, recommended by the Greenies, as a similar act that King Boo used to capture E. Gadd's Toad assistants during Luigi's last mansion adventure. He took their portraits to the Treacherous Mansion, the former resting place of the king of Boos, and gave the ghosts the responsibility of separating them in different rooms of the large residence. Edge also tasked the Tough Possessor of supervising the ghosts and the entire area since he was somewhat familiar with the landscape. Once Tough understood his duties, he took control while the villain returned to his headquarters.

Now, it was eerily quiet as the reckless ghosts continued to terrorize the valley. However, there was an unexpected visitor. He stood outside the professor's bunker which was southwest of Gloomy Manor. He looked at his surroundings and couldn't see anything from a far distance. No signs of the ghosts nor anyone to disrupt his appearance. He approached the professor's head-shaped shelter and tampered with the control panel. After he toyed with wires and electrical outlets, he hacked the Pixelator above the door. He tinkered with the buttons before he successfully pixelated himself to his desired destination.

After reforming from the multitude of pixels, he landed in front of the Treacherous Mansion. He walked over to the window on the right and peered to see the Front Entrance. The large lobby consisted of a bunch of interdimensional E-Gates, or portals, to teleport to the exhibits of the museum-themed mansion, gargoyle statues, two doors that led to the west and east wings, and a staircase that led to a stained-glass window where one can view the Inner Courtyard.

After inspecting the interior of the room, he contacted someone on his communicator.

"Hello? Do you read me? Duplicit speaking."

He received a response from a familiar character. "Duplimore here. I hear you loud and clear."

"Any sign of the green man yet?"

"No. Apparently, he's gone. I lost sight of him and now he left the premises."

"Really? But you told me he was at the Vanilla Dome."

"Key word, _was_. And he's no longer here."

Duplicit grunted. "Damn it. Well, chances are that the guy's gonna come here later. I followed their cruiser leading to the Treacherous Mansion. If I'm correct, some of his friends are trapped here. And the only way to get them out is the guy himself."

"If that's the case, then you can oversee the building and what else is inside. If I don't find him, maybe you'll run into him. I'm still on the lookout for the man."

"Whatever it takes, Duplimore, we can't fail our mission. We have to find him as soon as possible."

"I know. I'm going to head back to home base, then return to the woods to scope out the wacky guy's lab. There is a slight chance Luigi returned there.

"Wait? Luigi?"

"It's the guy's name, you dope."

"Well in my defense, I didn't know!"

"Fair enough. I'll talk to you if I have any leads."

"Roger. I'll infiltrate the mansion and scope out the rooms. I'll make sure to stay hidden from those ghosts."

"Gotcha. Over and out." Duplimore ended the call.

Duplicit, however, decided to sit against the wall and take a nap, contradicting his previous intentions. As he closed his eyes, the only thing he heard was the rushing water falling into the deep ravine.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _There's the current situation for the rest of the characters who have been gone. Bowser Jr. is up and running (sort of), Bowser isn't. Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were fine at first, then they were suddenly attacked. Knuckles, Yoshi, Eggman, and his robots are still alive, but they're trapped. Shadow, Silver, and the Chaotix are in the same predicament, except they're stuck 'Mario-esque' style in paintings. And another new character is introduced, who happens to be related to Duplimore. What's their business with Luigi? And is there any hope for the other guys? Next time on_ _Hidden Bravery_ _, we return to E. Gadd's lab where Luigi and his friends must determine their next motive…_

 _Thanks for reading! Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys next Monday. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _This is what happened to Bowser and Bowser Jr. when they were separated from the others. They may not have any dialogue, but I decided to give the Koopalings some minor roles._

 ** _(2):_** _It's been a while since I've included Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, so they get to have some dialogue here. Also, Kongo Jungle, their home, is an important setting for the story._

 ** _(3):_** _For those who don't know, Sparkling Waters is the third world in_ _NSMBU_ _ & __NSLU_ _. Keep in mind that this is also where one of the Dark Moon pieces is located._

 ** _(4):_** _Cubot's voice chip can be altered to change the way he speaks, one of them has him talking like a pirate. Examples of this occurrence happened in_ _Sonic Colors_ _and_ _Sonic Lost World_ _._

 ** _(5):_** _Just like the previous areas, Evershade is another key place as another Dark Moon piece lies here. And as mentioned above, the boss will be the Tough Possessor, but he won't be shown until much later._


	25. Ch 24: Disruption in the Darkness

_A/N:_ _UPDATE- Ch. 25 will be posted on June 12_ _th_ _. But after that, I'll be traveling on vacation, and I won't be able to upload the following Monday. Once I get back,_ _Hidden Bravery_ _will resume on the 26_ _th_ _, or in July. Just want to let you guys know this ahead of time._

 _Today, the guys will return to E. Gadd's bunker and discuss about what they should do next. Or, that's what they planned at first…_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Still don't own anything but the plot and my OCs._

* * *

 **Chapter 24:** Disruption in the Darkness

 _Location: E. Gadd's Lab_

One by one, the prisoners' pixels exited out of the Pixelator and reassembled themselves. They landed inside E. Gadd's lab where the professor was sitting in his high chair waiting for everyone to become settled after the trip through the green tunnel of subspace. The Toads, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Rouge, Blaze, Daisy, and Peach all made it back safely in one piece. They were all relieved that they were finally out after being locked up for days. Now, they were waiting for the Mario Bros. and Colombo.

"Did they already get pixelated? What's taking so long?" Daisy wondered.

"They should arrive shortly," E. Gadd reassured as he was holding down the button on his joystick.

Soon after, pixels of red, blue, brown, and white came out of the red camera and two more figures reformed. Mario and Colombo appeared in midair and landed perfectly on the ground.

Mario wiped off a bead of sweat. "Phew. Man, I'm glad I'm back all together again. The sensation of turning into hundreds of bits flying in midair felt very uncomfortable."

"Hey, Mario. Where's Luigi?" Peach asked him.

The red plumber looked around him. Colombo was to his right, but his brother wasn't there. He raised an eyebrow. "That's weird. He teleported with us through the Pixelator."

Elvin gulped as he wondered if the Pixelator malfunctioned again. Or… if something was interfering Luigi's path. The last time something went wrong happened after Luigi defeated the Tough Possessor in King Boo's paranormal portal. And after he retrieved the last Dark Moon piece, the fragment came back, but Luigi didn't. Instead, his pixels were pulled back into the illusion where the green ghost hunter fell into a dark, gloomy area. That led him to face King Boo in person for the first time in so many years. **_(1)_** Albeit he was scared, he prevented the ghost king from taking control of Evershade and trapping everyone into paintings. Worried about the current dilemma, Gadd turned to his keyboard and began typing away.

Meanwhile, Zephyr handed some pizza and pastries for the prisoners since they were very hungry. Everyone joined the Greenie, except Mario, Peach, and Daisy. They stood around the Professor while he tried to find the problem.

"Luigi should have been teleported back here with us. What do you think went wrong, Professor?" Mario asked.

"That, I don't have an answer for right now, Mario. I want to see if something's interfering with the Pixelator. If so, Luigi's pixels are not coming through for that reason. This isn't the first time it occurred, but he managed to get out of that tough situation. But for it to happen a second time, that raises a question mark. And to admit, I am not comfortable with almost losing him."

Daisy gulped. She didn't say anything because she didn't want to start a panic attack, especially in front of her friends. The flower princess embarrassed herself whenever she was livid towards Edge and his henchmen. But it's not her fault that her soulmate was missing. He was out there, who knows where, and she'd be horrified if something bad happened to him again.

Peach placed a hand on her brooch and thought nervously. She was already petrified when she saw the shadow figure harming Mario and Luigi back at the castle invasion. And after being separated for a while, she was relieved to be reunited with them. Then all of a sudden, one of them immediately disappears for unknown reasons. She cared deeply for her green friend to return safely.

"I sure hope he's okay." Mario's voice trailed off with concern as he became worried for his brother again. It was life-threatening enough for Luigi to be hospitalized with severe injuries. Since he was back on his feet, the last thing Mario wanted was for him to be missing. Or even worse.

* * *

 _Location: ?_

Luigi's pixels did reassemble where he became whole again. However, he did not land in E. Gadd's lab. His body was in midair and before he realized it, he fell to the ground.

"WAAHH! Oomph!"

He was idle for a couple of seconds until he lifted his head up and shook rapidly.

"Damn it. I hate when that happens."

He got up on his feet and dusted himself. Then, he looked around him.

"Wait. Where am I?"

He was in a vast amount of darkness. Luigi gulped as a sense of déjà vu hit him.

"Oh no," he groaned. "Why is this happening to me again? What is this place?"

More questions started blowing up in his head that he started to get a headache. He grabbed his 3DS to see if he could contact Mario or E. Gadd. But the device had no connection in this realm. He wasn't able to access a phone call to communicate and sending an email was practically useless. And with no signal, the professor probably couldn't activate his Pixelator. He sighed heavily in this helpless situation.

* * *

Cream and Amy walked over to where Mario, the professor, and the princesses were congregated.

"Is Mr. Luigi alright?" Cream asked innocently.

Trying not to discourage the young rabbit, Mario lied. "Umm, yeah. His pixels are taking a little longer to travel than we thought."

Daisy looked at Mario with a raised eyebrow. Mario shook his head to indicate he didn't want to make her worry. The two of them, alongside Peach and E. Gadd, were already concerned enough, and telling her the truth that they couldn't find Luigi would make things more problematic than it should. She nodded silently and looked back at the two girls.

"I know I asked this before, but I didn't get an answer. Where's Sonic?"

"And what about Tails?"

"Sonic and Tails returned to Mobius to find the last Chaos Emerald," answered E. Gadd.

"Well, did they find it?" Amy wondered.

"I'm not sure. I didn't receive any responses from the fox or the hedgehog."

"Well, Luigi and I called Sonic and he was chasing down a robot who captured Tails." Cream gasped at this revelation. Mario continued, "For me, that was the last thing I knew before I got captured by a ghost."

"I bet it was one of the Possessors, right?" Toad asked as he joined the others.

Mario nodded. "Correct. After he rescued me, he sucked up the ghost in his Poltergust and found the key to your cell. We didn't call Sonic or Tails before we found you. So, I don't know if everything's back to normal or if Tails was saved."

"I have confidence in those two just like I have for you and Luigi," E. Gadd praised. "But I don't believe the fact that Luigi hasn't returned yet. Gah! What's with this Pixelator?"

* * *

Suddenly, Luigi felt an immense amount of energy. He put away the 3DS and reached in his other back pocket. He held the Dark Moon fragment he recovered from Grouchy and noticed it shining very brightly. Despite its corrupted power, it felt like it was giving him a signal.

 _"What's going on?"_ he thought.

Then, he noticed something strange on the Dark Moon piece. He squinted at first. A few seconds later, his eyes bulged open as an image came into view on one of the fragment's smooth edges. Luigi gazed at the piece with intrigue.

* * *

"Any luck getting Greenie back?" Rouge asked the group huddled around E. Gadd's computer. Zephyr misinterpreted the bat's question and spoke his ghoulish language in front of her. "I'm sorry, but what he is saying?"

"Oh, he was explaining that he is a Greenie ghost himself. But I assume you're talking about Luigi, which is why Zephyr was confused," E. Gadd explained, still typing on his keyboard and attempting to reboot the camera system.

"Isn't there another way to get him back other than teleporting him as a bunch of pixels?" Amy questioned.

"I'm afraid not. I created the Pixelator system for efficient fast travel. I don't have any other options. I activated it for everyone to use and it was efficient for you guys."

"But not for Luigi," Mario muttered to himself.

"I can see why he dislikes the Pixelator now," Blaze uttered.

E. Gadd made a face, but it was more towards his frustration for not reaching out to Luigi. He had tried everything he could, but he had no luck.

Daisy walked away from the gang and stood alone. She clasped her hands in front of the emerald jewel on her dress and prayed to herself.

 _"Oh, Luigi. Where are you? I just want you to come back safely. You're making me worried sick…"_

Peach turned her head to see her distraught friend. She strolled over to her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Don't worry, Daisy. He'll be back soon."

Daisy wanted to remain optimistic, but her heart said otherwise. "But what if he _doesn't_ return? What if he gets injured again? What if…"

Peach stood in front of her and placed the other hand on the flower princess' other shoulder. Firmly gripping them, she looked at Daisy with a serious look. But her words were soothing to ease her friend's senses.

"Daisy, please calm down. Take a deep breath, and shake it off. Luigi _will_ come back. Just… be patient and hope for the best. I'm worried as much as you and Mario. But please, I beg of you, don't stress yourself over this."

She looked at Peach's face for assurance. After sighing heavily and breathing to calm her nerves, Daisy thanked her and they rejoined the party.

Mario looked back at the princesses with concern. He bit his lower lip hoping that they would be okay, as well as Luigi. He turned to the screen as the elderly professor kept searching for a sign of any sort. A sign or a glimmer of hope to somehow bring him back safely and quickly.

* * *

Luigi stared at the scenery that was visualized on the Dark Moon piece he held. The first thing he noticed was a place he hadn't traveled to in a long time. That place was Kongo Jungle. The trees and shrubs swayed as the wind currents blew through the wilderness. But, his eyes were fixated at something strange.

 _"What the? Is that… Donkey Kong?"_

Indeed. He saw the large creature in dark brown fur being dragged through the jungle by a robot. The ape was unconscious with his eyes closed and his necktie torn up. Then, he noticed another familiar face.

 _"D-Diddy Kong… He's out, too?"_

The spider monkey was also comatose as he was dragged along the grassy surface. His red tank top was covered in dirt, and his hat was crooked. But what caught Luigi's attention was the one who was carrying him. It was a white, floating entity with two horns sticking out from its noggin. And, another fragment of the Dark Moon was inside his body.

"The Harsh Possessor!" Luigi gasped. That time, he said it out loud.

* * *

"Criminy! I still can't figure out the problem!" E. Gadd complained as he leaned back.

While he and Mario were frustrated, and the others worried, their thoughts were interrupted when they heard a knock outside. The professor turned his attention to the security camera that was capturing the footage in front of his door. And it was a sight for Amy to be ecstatic about.

She let out a contented gasp. "It's Sonic! He's back!"

Rouge rolled her eyes. "And there goes little Ms. Fangirl over here," she muttered.

"And Tails with him, too!" Cream said delightfully.

"Sonic, Tails! Come on in," he addressed through the speaker and unlocked the door.

The blue hedgehog and the yellow kitsune walked inside the lab to find Mario and the prisoners from Vanilla Dome.

Sonic smiled. "Hey, Mario! I see you've rescued some people again!" His smile soon faded when he saw pink running right at him. "Oh god…"

"SOOOONNNIIIIIIC!" Amy screamed at the top of her lungs. She jumped into him and wrapped her arms around her so-called partner. "Sonic! I'm so glad to see you again!"

Although Sonic hadn't seen Amy for a while, he was slightly okay to know that she's safe. What he's not comfortable with was the self-restricting hug he was pulled into.

"A-Amy! It's… good to see you… too. Now can you please… let me go?!" he struggled to say as his face went pale.

"No way! I want to be with you forever!"

"Amy… You're going to make him freaking suffocate if you keep holding onto him like that," Blaze warned.

Still, the pink hedgehog didn't listen. She and Mario had to pry her off. Sonic gasped for air as he held his knees standing up. He looked up to them and gave them a meager thumbs-up as his thanks, just before he fell onto the floor.

"Tails! You're here as well!"

"Cream! Thank goodness you're okay."

The rabbit then became concerned. "Why are you in bandages?"

The fox looked down to see his chest and his arms wrapped up. "Oh, that. Don't worry. I was caught up in a small incident."

"That robot didn't hurt you a lot, did it?"

"Wait, how do you know I was captured by one of Edge's robots?"

"I told them about you and Sonic," Mario responded as he joined the two. "Are you sure you're alright, Tails?"

The fox gave him a small smile. "I'm okay, Mario. These bruises aren't really sore. Just a bit tense. Either way, it's nothing to focus on right now." Tails paused to help Sonic back up on his feet, earning a 'Thanks' from the hedgehog. "But now that I look at what's going, I have some questions of my own. One, where's Knuckles, Yoshi, and everyone else? Two, where's Luigi? And three, why does Professor E. Gadd look frazzled?"

Mario sulked, stretching his lips to the side. "To answer your first question, they weren't there when we rescued them-" he pointed at everyone behind him, "-at Vanilla Dome. We don't know their new resting place. As for questions two and three, that's what we're currently dealing with right now."

"What's the matter, then?" Sonic asked.

"E. Gadd teleported all of us with his Pixelator, and everybody but Luigi returned. He's trying to see if his system's malfunctioned or if something's interfering with the signal. We don't know what's the cause of this.

"Hmm… Maybe I can help him out. I am good with electrical circuits and mechanisms."

Mario shrugged. "I don't see why not. Have a go, I guess."

Tails walked over to Professor E. Gadd to lend him a hand. He accepted his offer and told Tails to fly over to the Pixelator to examine the unit. He remained in his high chair and in front of his computer, still investigating the issue.

Sonic stood on Mario's right with a concerned, yet serious look on his face. "I see that you're okay after whatever happened in the caverns."

He turned to the hedgehog, mirroring his facial expressions. Sighing, he replied monotonously. "I got captured by a ghost again. Go figure. I'm lucky Luigi saved me again. And I'm glad you saved Tails. Did you get the Chaos Emerald as well?"

Sonic nodded and reached in his blue quills to pull out the green Chaos Emerald. "Tails still has the yellow one. We were able to keep them away from the robot who kidnapped him. We didn't run into Edge, so that was another positive out of that."

"That's good. If you're hungry, Zephyr has placed some food over there."

"Nah, I'm good." He stared into his eyes again, painting the picture that the plumber was troubled. He hung his arm around him. "Don't worry, Mario. Luigi is going to be okay."

"That's what Peach said to Daisy earlier. I can only hope he's not gone."

Sonic scratched his ear, unsure of how to continue this conversation. He can understand what Mario's dealing with. And that's the risk of losing his brother, again.

* * *

Luigi was kind of hoping the scene would pan out more to see where the robot and the Possessor were taking the two primates. But the visual faded away from the lightning sparks that it nearly shocked his hand. He dropped the piece in surprise and it fell onto the ground.

"So Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong are in trouble. And the Harsh Possessor must be in Kongo Jungle. E. Gadd did mention that place when he was searching for the Dark Moon pieces. I better tell the other guys about this. The only thing is, how do I get back?"

He grabbed the fragment and stuffed it in his pocket. He looked around again in search of some light or a way out of the mysterious, gloomy expanse. Turning on his flashlight, he decided to walk aimlessly in the direction he was facing. If anything, it was better than doing absolutely nothing. Okay, that's partially false, but in this case, it's something other than standing there.

* * *

Back at the lab, Toadsworth announced that he was going to head back to Toad Town to check on the inhabitants and the condition of their kingdom. He gave Mario the responsibility to escort the princesses back to the castle. Toadette and Toad followed him out of the forest. Blaze, Rouge, Cream, and Cheese decided to find any clues to where Edge may have imprisoned their other friends. If they were unsuccessful, they planned to rest back in their world. They would continue their search the following day. Now, the only ones remaining in the garage were Peach, Daisy, Amy, E. Gadd, Colombo, Zephyr, Mario, Sonic, and Tails.

The princesses and Amy sat around a square table. Colombo and Zephyr decided to tidy up the garage. Mario sat on the floor, his back against the wall, legs pulled up to his chest, and arms rested on top of his knees. Sonic stood next to him, tapping his red shoe while they waited.

Meanwhile, Tails asked for permission to unwire the Pixelator, to which the professor allowed him to. He grabbed some tools to inspect the cables and the circuitry. After a couple of minutes of observing, he replaced the camera in its former spot. Tails walked over to E. Gadd.

"Well, I scrutinized the wires and your Pixelator system. Everything looked fine. But there's seems to be something holding Luigi back that's not allowing the camera to work. We might have to use an alternative. Sonic, can you come over here?"

The Blue Blur walked up to him when his name was called. "What's up, Tails?"

He grabbed the yellow gem from his tails. "This may sound a bit convoluted, but I want to use the power of our Chaos Emeralds to power up this Pixelator to create a signal to his 3DS. If we're lucky, maybe it will provide enough energy to transport Luigi from wherever he is right now. Kind of like how Shadow uses Chaos Control to travel through time and space."

"Are you sure about this?"

"If Luigi's concealed in a faraway place that's obstructing his pixels, we could possibly counteract the interference using the Emeralds. It's a huge risk because it may drain some of its power, but I don't think we have a choice."

"Please do whatever you can. I just want Luigi back," Daisy begged.

"And they'll do whatever they can to get him back. It just takes patience," Peach mumbled.

Sonic turned to Mario whose eyes were gazed on the floor. He didn't even move or react. He remained still in his sitting position. Feeling remorseful, he took out his green Emerald again. Sonic nodded at Tails to show that he's willing to help.

The fox nodded back as they began the process. The two closed their eyes and focused as they tried to withdraw energy from the emeralds. As they thought heavily, an aura of yellow and green emitted from the Emeralds. The girls, E. Gadd, and Mario lifted their heads as they were captivated by the energy flow. In a matter of seconds, the ball of lights emerged into one and zipped into the red camera. A sudden notice popped on the computer. E. Gadd examined the outcome.

"Pixelator's back up and running! Maybe I can reach Luigi again!"

"Really?! Try to call him now, or send the Pixelator screen to him!"

"That's what I'm working on, Mario!"

* * *

Minutes have passed by, but it felt like hours to Luigi. He made no progress to determine where he was or how to get out. His friends weren't with him, his 3DS had no signal, and he was starting to get hungry. He took out two Mushrooms and chomped them. Feeling satiated, Luigi resumed his walk.

However, he eventually stopped when he saw something out of the ordinary. Ten feet in front of him in the vast darkness, a white dot glowed in midair. Luigi slowly approached the anomaly and stared at it with curiosity.

Then, something snapped in his brain.

"Wait a minute. There's darkness, I'm in the middle of nowhere, there's something strange right in front of me… Am I in the Oblivion? Or… a vision of it, again?"

"You happen to be correct, I must admit."

That deep, insidious voice made Luigi's eyes widen in fear.

"Oh no," he whispered.

The white dot shined brighter than before, causing Luigi to shield his eyes. As the light dimmed, the purple shadow stood tall with an evil grin.

"Oh yes," Myster Edge snickered.

"You again!"

"Indeed, you little, green pest."

"Why have you brought me here again?"

"To congratulate you… Sort of."

"Congratulate?"

"You managed to save your friends. And because of that, I want to reward you."

"Reward me?"

Without saying a word, Edge swiftly grabbed his scepter and shot an electric ball at the plumber. Luigi couldn't react in time and was instantly shocked.

"EEYAAAAHHH!" he shouted as he fell to his knees. His overalls and shirt were burnt from the attack.

"HAHAHAHAHA!" Myster Edge cackled.

Luigi took a minute to recompose himself. He narrowed his eyes and lowered his brows. "What the heck was _that_ for?!"

"Didn't you listen, you pea-brained dolt? That was your reward."

"Some reward," he muttered. "Why are you torturing me again?"

"I mentioned this already. You try to play hero and stop my plans, you will be sorry. If you and your friends try to find the Chaos Emeralds, reclaim the Dark Moon, or rescue your friends, I'll have to punish you.

"Speaking of which, where are the others?" he inquired in a disturbed tone.

"That's for you to figure out, genius."

Luigi clutched his chest and grunted. He had enough of Edge's games. "Listen, Edge. You better tell me where my friends are, or I'll…"

"Or you'll what?" he interrupted. "You'll cry like the cowardly brother you are ever since you were a baby? Lie in a fetal position to avoid encountering anything dangerous or scary? Basically become the biggest, pathetic wimp to ever exist?!"

Wincing at his rude remarks, Luigi did his best to ignore him. "My friends and I will stop you. We will restore the Dark Moon and get those Chaos Emeralds back! You will never get away with destroying all worlds!"

"Au contraire, Mr. Wobbly Legs. I beg to differ. Once I get my hands on the remaining Emeralds, the Oblivion will rise above the skies of every dimension and eat up everything. And with the Dark Moon still destroyed, I can unleash the ghosts to wreak havoc anywhere at any time! And most importantly, you will be vital for my plan for world domination."

"H-how so? Why am _I_ necessary to fulfilling your needs?"

"Let's just say that you'll look nice next to my side."

Luigi raised an eyebrow with confusion written on his face. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"In due time, when the Oblivion is close to getting rid of everything, I'll utilize you to my advantage. But for now…"

Myster Edge sent another electric orb at Luigi, but this time the man in green saw this ahead of time when he trailed off his statement. He grabbed the Poltergust hose and pressed the green button to activate a Shriek Shield. The barrier surrounded him, making him feel somewhat relieved. However, it backfired. Somehow, Edge's attack was so powerful that it penetrated through the "invincible" shield and reached inside to hurt Luigi again.

"AAAHHHH!" he yelled as he fell onto his back. The shield managed to disappear after the sudden occurrence. Luigi couldn't believe that Edge thwarted his defense. Worst of all, he couldn't move after that. His body became feeble, unable to stretch his arms or legs to get back up.

Edge was about to attack once again, but he paused when he noticed something. Even though Luigi was immobile, his 3DS beeped and a Pixelator screen came out, despite the fact it was closed. Then, his body converted into tons of small cubes as his pixels transferred into the screen.

"What the? Hey! Get back here!"

Luigi was gone before he had a chance to restrain him. Myster Edge then decided he had already done enough damage to the man in green… for now.

"No big deal. He got punished, and that's that. But next time, I'll make sure he'll suffer even more. Now if only my minions can find the last two Emeralds. That is all that matters."

He waved his staff and disappeared from the dark illusion.

* * *

"Fellas! I've got something!" E. Gadd exclaimed with excitement.

"Yes, it worked!" Tails celebrated.

"Oh, thank goodness!" Daisy sighed with relief.

"Wow, nice job, buddy!" Sonic gave him a high five.

Everyone gathered around E. Gadd's chair as they stared at the Pixelator, awaiting Luigi's arrival.

"Come on, Luigi," Mario mumbled. Peach squeezed his shoulders from behind, feeling anxious.

Nothing happened for awhile. Amy furrowed her brows. "Professor E. Gadd? Are you sure that-"

"I've got him!"

By the time he said that, pixels of green, blue, yellow, brown, and white projected out of the camera and in front of everyone. Once again, the pixels reassembled the man only for him to be in midair. That made him land on his stomach again, but he barely reacted to the fall. He slightly groaned from the impact.

The red-clothed man ran up to his brother. "Luigi! Luigi, get up!" He shook his shoulder, but Luigi didn't respond. Again, he groaned in pain.

Mario turned him on his side. He, Daisy, and Peach gasped. Sonic, Tails, Amy, and E. Gadd had their mouths agape. Everyone was shocked at the sight. There, they saw his clothes burnt and bruises around his neck and face.

E. Gadd hopped off his chair and asked for assistance. "Tails, Amy, get the Poltergust off him. Hand it to Zephyr. He'll know what to do afterwards. Mario, help me carry him to my guest bedroom."

Doing what they're told, Amy and Tails joined Mario to lift Luigi up and removed the vacuum off his back. The fox also found the Dark Moon piece that the Grouchy Possessor once held. E. Gadd told him to take it to Zephyr as well. They walked down the hall to find the Greenie. E. Gadd grabbed Luigi's left arm while Mario supported his right. They guided the unconscious man to the bedroom with Sonic, Peach, and Daisy trailing after them.

"What even happened to him?" Daisy thought.

"I don't know. I feel so bad for Luigi," Peach sympathized.

"We can only hope he'll recover as soon as possible," Sonic prayed.

They set him down gently with his head on the pillow. They covered his body with a blanket.

"I'll call Dr. Toadley and schedule a morning appointment tomorrow. I'll try to heal his wounds for now."

"Do you want us to help, Professor?"

"I appreciate the offer, Princess. But didn't Toadsworth want you to return to the castle tonight?"

"I'll call him saying that I'll spend the night here taking care of Luigi. I'm certain Daisy also wants to stay as well."

"And I do," she agreed.

"If you say so. Hopefully, he won't mind. I'll be right back with the first aid kit."

E. Gadd left the bedroom, followed by Peach and Daisy who walked out to find the telephone. Only three people remained in the bedroom. Two were standing, one was laying unconsciously.

Sonic walked to the other side of the bed where Mario was. "I'm sorry," he whispered.

Mario grimaced. He couldn't stand looking at his brother from the condition he's in. He crossed his arms and pinned his head down with his eyes closed.

"You have nothing to be sorry for. If anything, I'm the reason he's hurt again."

"No it isn't. There must have been something that caused all this. And it had nothing to do with you. Besides, I'm sure he'll be back to normal soon."

"That's the only thing I'm hoping for right now."

Mario and Sonic looked down at Luigi once again. They remained in silence as his appearance reminded them too much about his trip to the hospital days ago. If he were to be hospitalized again, Mario would probably have another mental breakdown. And there's no telling if it could happen again in the future.

But there was one thing on Mario's mind. He knew that someone did this to him. Not some _thing_. Some ** _one_**. And he had a hunch on who was responsible.

 _"Myster Edge, you will NOT get away with this."_

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I will admit, the content you read wasn't what I initially planned to write. At first, I was going to have everyone return to figure out what the heroes should do next after escaping Vanilla Dome. Instead, this idea popped in my head (further explained in the Post-Chapter Note) and I went from there to add suspense. But don't worry, because next time on_ _Hidden Bravery_ _, Luigi will be back and he'll explain his side of the story on what he experienced. THEN, the heroes will finally decide what their next plan is._

 _Please review, favorite/follow, and I'll see you guys next Monday for Ch. 25. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _After completing 'Stop the Knightmare', the boss battle of the Treacherous Mansion in_ _Dark Moon_ _, Luigi and the Dark Moon piece were about to be sent back to E. Gadd's bunker. However, King Boo pulled him back into his paranormal portal. Luigi was transported into King Boo's Illusion, leading to the final boss fight. So the part where Luigi did not return to the lab and appeared in Edge's dark illusion, this is where I got the idea from._


	26. Ch 25: It Lurks at Night

_A/N:_ _As a reminder, I'll be traveling on vacation for the week, so I cannot upload next Monday. The story will resume on June 26_ _th_ _or in July._

 _Secondly, thank you guys for an amazing month of May and a great start to June because I received so many views to reach_ _ **4000+**_ _! Thanks again for taking the time to read the story. Special shoutouts to Steel Magicant, Tiger of Darkness, MalevolentDarkness16, and Sonar for leaving reviews! I received_ _ **50+ reviews**_ _, and I appreciate each and every one!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own Mario or Sonic. They are owned by Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 25:** It Lurks at Night

Midnight approached the Mushroom Kingdom. Thin, wispy clouds of light gray slowly passed under the light of the full moon shining above Luigi's personal mansion and E. Gadd's lab in Boo Woods. The temperature dropped to where it was moderately cool, but not freezing on a summer night. And during that time, there was nothing but silence that roamed throughout the spooky region.

Inside the bunker, Mario, E. Gadd, Peach, and Daisy all helped to recover Luigi as much as they could. The professor persuaded Dr. Toadley to pay a visit to check on the green clad man the following morning. With Peach and Daisy, they used his first aid kit to heal the bruises and scars he sustained. Mario helped as well before he headed back to his house to receive new clothes for Luigi to change in for the next day.

Meanwhile, Sonic entered the Storage Room where he found Tails and Amy alongside Colombo and Zephyr. It was almost an exact replica of E. Gadd's secondary bunker in Evershade Valley. Only this one was larger to have space for its own separate computer and other technical accessories. Directly below the room was a similar version of the Vault. And like the Evershade bunker, one could enter it by standing on an elevator panel.

"Wow, I've never seen this place of old coot's lab before."

Tails turned around to see his blue friend. "Oh, hey Sonic. I was surprised myself when we came here to give Zephyr the Poltergust."

Said ghost was attaching a power generator to charge up the vacuum for more Shriek Shields. When he was finished, he hovered over to the computer where Colombo sat in a chair next to him.

"Anything important we should know about?" asked Amy.

"The professor called the doctor to set up a morning checkup. Luigi's still out cold. The princesses decided to stay here to look after him. And Mario retreated to his home.

Tails expressed a worried look. "Why did Mario leave?"

"Dunno," the hedgehog shrugged. "I think he said he was getting clothes or something related to that."

"If he's thinking about shopping, then I should have gone with him. I could use another dress."

"Amy, it's midnight and all the stores are closed. Second, I'm pretty sure he would be getting new clothes for Luigi since his current ones are burnt," the fox reminded her.

"Oh yeah," she sighed sadly.

"Not only that, but I think he needed some time on his own again. Can't say I blame him. Have Blaze and the others found anything about our missing friends?" Sonic asked.

"I got a call from her, now that you mentioned that," Tails answered. "Unfortunately, they had no luck. She and Rouge brought Cream and Cheese back to Vanilla's house. The other girls probably retired as well. I even tried to contact Shadow, Silver, and the Chaotix. But none of them answered back. I'm starting to get a bit worried."

"What about Knuckles?"

"Amy, didn't you remember what that knucklehead tried to do at Luigi's party?" Sonic said annoyingly.

"Oh yeah, _that_. Now I remember."

A sound notification played, getting everyone's attention. A tunnel appeared from the floor with a rectangular entrance. The three watched the Greenie place the hose of the Poltergust to the tunnel and transferred the ghosts Luigi captured down into the Vault and inside a large, red canister. That way, the Possessor and the others were unable to escape and cause chaos inside the lab.

"Wow. So are the ghosts going to stay down there?"

Even though Zephyr didn't speak their language, he nodded at Amy to confirm her question. He tried to explain that the ghosts Luigi may capture in the future will be held in the canister until the curse of the Dark Moon goes away.

"Speaking of which, Professor E. Gadd told me to give you this as well."

Tails took out the corrupted piece from his namesakes. Zephyr grabbed it and thanked the fox. He pressed a button to reveal a large model of a familiar contraption.

"Whoa, what's that?"

"If I remember, this is the Energy Suppressor E. Gadd explained back at Toadley Clinic. Only this one must be the larger version he used beforehand."

Zephyr nodded at Tails. He set the piece on the turntable and four brushes appeared to clean off the sparks. This was a fascination for Amy as it was the first time she witnessed an invention like this. Sonic and Tails already had a taste of this when E. Gadd cleaned the first piece, but they were still entranced by the process. Once the fragment was restored, it shined brightly. And at the same time, across the Mushroom Kingdom, more of the purple fog disappeared above Evershade Valley. Once the piece was clean, Zephyr shut down the Suppressor and it retracted into the floor with the Dark Moon fragment. The piece was transferred down into the Vault's safe where the first one was kept safely.

Sonic put a hand to his hip. "Well, that's two down, four to go. And we have to find a way to get those Chaos Emeralds back from Edge."

"And find our friends," added Amy.

"Before he destroys everything with the Oblivion," Tails finished before he yawned. "Man, I'm so beat."

Sonic looked at the digital clock on the computer, reading 12:08 a.m. "Damn, I forgot how late it is right now."

Colombo hopped off the chair and barked at Zephyr to indicate that it's probably best to go to bed. Zephyr agreed. He offered the three to stay in the bedrooms in the large mansion here.

Amy was fascinated by the idea. "I never slept in a mansion before. I bet it has bigger and prettier bedrooms than the one I live in. What do you say, Sonic?"

"I guess it won't hurt to sleep here. To be honest, I don't feel like running all the way back to our home after all we've been through today."

"I agree with that."

"By the way, Tails, how are you feeling with your injuries?"

"I bet I'll feel much better after a good night's sleep. Other than that, I'm okay right now."

"That's good," Sonic smiled. "Come on, let's head out to check the mansion."

Zephyr asked Colombo to tell the Professor that the three would stay at the mansion for the night. The Polterpup barked and ran off to find him. The Greenie floated ahead and asked them to follow him. They exited the lab and walked up the dirt path leading to the front door.

As they got inside, they were greeted by a double staircase leading to the second floor. They walked up and Zephyr assigned them separate bedrooms to sleep in. However, Amy wanted to sleep in the same room with Sonic, causing the Blue Blur to give her a questionable look. Zephyr had an idea and waved his hand forward, indicating to follow him again. He opened a door and showed them a large room with three beds against the wall, table dressers separating the space in between, and a ceiling fan spinning above them. There was also a large screen door that led to a balcony with a view of the backyard and the rest of Boo Woods. **_(1)_** They were impressed with the layout and thanked Zephyr for the hospitality. The Greenie bowed and wished them a good night before leaving the mansion. Sonic hopped onto the bed in the middle, Tails took the one on the far end, and Amy had the bed close to the door. They all wished a good night to each other as the fox and the hedgehogs slumbered in peace.

Meanwhile, Peach and Daisy were sleeping on a sitting couch against the back wall of the guest bedroom. After they did their best to heal Luigi, E. Gadd told the princesses that they can take a break. Colombo found him and yipped to explain that Zephyr allowed Sonic and his friends to sleep in the mansion. Gadd thanked him for knowing this. He would have offered the ladies the same thing, but he took one look and saw how exhausted they were that he didn't bother to wake them up.

The elderly man turned to the unconscious man in green with a grim look. He felt half guilty for the Pixelator malfunctioning, and half upset that Luigi got hurt again. He signaled to Colombo to leave the bedroom and the three guests alone. Colombo whimpered because he wanted to sleep next to his owner. After thinking for a bit, he gave the Polterpup a sad smile and let him do as he pleases. Colombo wagged his tail and panted happily without making a lot of noise to accidentally wake them. E. Gadd turned off the lights and shut the door gently while the ghost dog carefully jumped onto the bed. He turned in circles before making himself comfortable. He laid his head near Luigi's left arm as he went to sleep.

By the time Professor Gadd returned to his main hub, Mario returned to the shelter. He was holding a pile of clothes for Luigi and him to wear the next day. He even brought his own nightwear.

"Aah, Mario, welcome back," he spoke softly.

"Why are you whispering?" Mario asked, not with an inside voice.

"The others are asleep in the guest room. Don't want to wake 'em up."

"Oh, I see," he answered back softly. "I take it that Toadsworth allowed them to stay here?"

"The old chap was reluctant at first, but he eventually gave in because of how late it was at that time."

"Did Sonic, Tails, and Amy return to Mobius?"

"No. Zephyr offered them to stay in the mansion. They should be asleep as well."

"Okay. That's nice of Zephyr." Mario set Luigi's clothes down on a table and took a seat with his pajamas in his lap. He rested a hand on his cheek. He looked tired, which was obvious, but there was more than just that.

E. Gadd looked at him and noticed how crestfallen he was. "Something wrong, young feller?"

Mario shot a glance at the short man. "No, I'm fine."

Elvin didn't buy it. He slowly walked up and stood in front of him.

"My boy, if you have something on your mind, it's best to talk it out to a friend. Is there anything you want to say to me? I'm willing to listen."

Mario didn't respond. He kept his mouth shut, refraining from exposing his inner thoughts.

"Is it about Luigi?"

At first, he didn't want to answer. Nonetheless, he nodded.

E. Gadd sighed. "I understand why you're feeling this way. But if you think about this again, you're going to keep blaming yourself. You should take pride in yourself to know that he'll continue his games until they're over. Do not kick yourself down because of one mishap. It's deteriorating your morals."

"Since when you do care about morals?"

"I'm trying to sugarcoat this for you, youngster. I was blaming myself for the Pixelator incident. But I ignored my negative train of thought and looked on the bright side. Luigi's back, he'll be healthy again, and he'll get back to adventuring. I suggest you do the same."

Mario sighed. "I guess I'll try. Maybe I'll feel better if I get some sleep."

No later when he mentioned that, the Greenie returned to the lab.

"Zephyr, sorry to trouble you, but do you mind sending Mario to one of the mansion's bedrooms?"

The Greenie didn't mind and he obliged.

"Thanks, Zeph. I'll see you in the morning, Professor."

"Good night, lad."

After they exited the door, E. Gadd turned off the lights and retired to his room. Mario walked up to the mansion with the ghost leading him to a cozy bedroom with a king-sized bed. The plumber thanked the ghost before he left. After refreshing himself, he changed into his white and red-striped pajamas and nightcap. He pulled the covers down and made himself comfortable. He closed his eyes as rest sent him to dream land.

* * *

 _~3:00 a.m._

It was the middle of the night, only the sounds of crows cawing could be heard if anyone was walking outside. The only source of light came from the large moon hanging high in the dark sky. Inside the mansion, Mario was asleep in his room. Amy, Tails, and Sonic were slumbering in their shared bedroom. It was tranquil for the four of them, but the mansion had a fifth unexpected member.

Someone appeared onto the balcony and slowly opened the screen door. After shutting it gently, the mysterious person went in between Tails' and Sonic's beds. He creeped his hand under Tails' sheets and near his tails. Trying not to accidentally pull them, he ruffled in the fur and took the yellow Chaos Emerald. He went over to Sonic's bed and reached into his quills very carefully. Thankfully for him, he didn't hurt himself, and he got away with the green Emerald as well. He exited out the balcony without getting caught.

Next, the figure infiltrated the bunker after disabling the security camera and picking the locked door. He made his way to the Storage Room and hacked into the computer. He cut off the signals of the security cameras throughout the shelter. Then, he activated the elevator panel to descend to the Vault. Upon reaching the lower level, he approached a safe attached onto the wall. He took out a stethoscope and placed the bell near the combination dial. Hearing the ticks click into place, he unlocked the safe and found the two Dark Moon pieces. Smirking, he grabbed the elements and went back upstairs. The thing is, however, the figure _did not_ leave E. Gadd's lab. Instead, he shuffled his feet against the floor into the hallway. The hallway that led to the guest room.

* * *

 _~9:00 a.m._

Mario's eyes felt groggy from the sunlight beaming past the curtains. He yawned and sat up from the bed. He rubbed the rheum away and headed to the bathroom to shower. Feeling more awake than before, the man put on his new set of clothes, despite it being the same red shirt, blue overalls combo. He brushed his teeth and carried his old clothes to the washer, found in a small closet. He tossed them in, added some detergent, and let the machine do its own business.

At the same time, another door opened. Out came the yellow fox and the pink hedgehog.

"Good morning, Mario," they both said.

"Morning Tails, Amy," Mario responded. "Where's Sonic?"

"Probably out for a run. You know him. He likes to wake up early and go out for his daily exercise."

Mario smirked. "Yeah, I should've expected that."

"Um, Mario. There's something I should probably tell you. I haven't told Sonic yet because, you know, he's not here."

"What's wrong, Tails?"

"Well…" Tails quivered his lips. Amy nudged him to spill it out. "The Chaos Emerald is missing."

"What?! What do you mean it's missing?!"

"It means it's gone, Mario! What else do you expect?"

Mario gave Amy a dirty look. "You don't think I fucking know that?" Amy leaned back, not expecting him to swear at her. Mario turned to Tails again. "Do you remember where you left it before you went to bed?"

"Yeah, I had it stuffed in my tails. The yellow one, specifically. Sonic should still have the green one."

"Well, what happened?"

"I reached into my fur, and it wasn't there! So, I started searching, and I asked Amy to help me find it."

"And?"

"We searched everywhere in our room. It wasn't there."

Mario put a hand on his forehead. "Oh, Mamma Mia. This is not good at all."

"What if Edge stole it in the middle of the night?" Amy wondered.

"That is highly improbable! How and why would the Shadow Spirit sneak into the mansion and subtly take the Chaos Emerald from my tails? You probably would have expected him to take me as a hostage for ransom, or even barge in trying to attack us rather than just take it and leave like it's no big deal."

"You better tell Sonic about this soon. I don't know how he'll react to it, but you better cross your fingers that he doesn't flip like hell," Mario told him.

"That's what I'm afraid of. It's one of my fears since the day he took me in as my adoptive brother."

 _Brother_. Speaking of which, Mario forgot about his brother for a second. How could he be that forgetful over his family? He was unconscious and hurt last night, damn it! He was going to head down to E. Gadd's lab, but he noticed the female hedgehog started sniffing.

"Mmm… do you smell something?"

Tails did the same thing. "Smells like food to me. Scrambled eggs, blueberry pancakes, French toast, it's like someone made a smorgasbord."

And his thoughts were correct. The three heard a ringing bell and a voice calling out to them.

"Everyone! Breakfast is ready! Come on down!"

"Well, let's see what's up for today," Mario wondered as he led the pack down the stairs.

They entered the dining room to see a breakfast buffet laid out in front of them. Peach, Daisy, and Zephyr were already there.

"Good morning, everybody," Peach greeted them.

"Morning, Princess Peach," the three replied.

"Did you guys make all of this?" Amy asked.

"Sure did! We woke up early and decided to cook you a big breakfast before you guys head out," Daisy said happily.

Mario looked around him. "Is Luigi okay?" He was kind of hoping his brother was somewhere in the mansion, possibly in the bathroom to wash up.

Daisy's smile faded away and she sighed. "From what we heard, he's still not awake. Dr. Toadley should be visiting soon. E. Gadd's in the lab waiting for his arrival. If not, he's probably in the lab looking after him right now."

"I hope the diagnostic doesn't have Luigi stuck in another coma. I wouldn't bear to think about that," Tails said hesitantly. Mario shifted his eyes to him without moving his head.

Peach wanted to drift away from the awkwardness. "Come on, guys. Let's enjoy this buffet at least."

Everyone took a seat around the circular table. Mario sat with Peach and Daisy to his left, and Tails and Amy on his right. Zephyr went around with a piping kettle of tea and poured it in everyone's cups. While everyone was picking up some food on their plates, they heard the front door open. They heard a blue streak running up the stairs and down several seconds later. He stopped when he reached the dining room.

Sonic held his hand up and showed off his trademark smirk. "Morning, guys! I see you're already having a feast!"

"Hello, Sonic. Please, join us," Peach offered.

"I saved a seat for you, sweetie," Amy patted the chair to her right.

Sonic slightly blushed and sat in between her and Daisy. He saw the array of food on the table.

"Holy Mobius! Did you make all of this?"

"Daisy, Zephyr, and I cooked the entire meal for everyone. And knowing how much you like a certain dish, I decided to make some for you."

Peach handed him a plate of chili dogs. Sonic's grin widened.

"Now that's a big pile of chili dogs!" The hedgehog grabbed one and took a scrumptious bite. Instantly, he fell in love with the flavor.

"Whoa! This is some good food right here! This tastes just as good as Tayce T.'s! My compliments to you, Princess!"

"Thanks, Sonic! I'm glad you like it."

As he finished his first and grabbed another, a question popped in his head. "By the way, where is the professor?"

"He's still in his lab with Luigi. He's waiting for Dr. Toadley to arrive for a personal checkup," Daisy reiterated.

"Is Luigi up and running again, at least?"

"No. Or at least not yet," Mario replied with a depressed tone. He slouched back in his chair as he sipped his cup of tea.

Sonic, who sat across from him, frowned. He didn't like to see his friend upset. He tried to build Mario's hopes up. "Well, I'm sure he'll be back sooner than later. You can count on it."

Ten minutes into breakfast, the telephone rang from the living room. Zephyr picked it up and listened to the caller. He formed a grin when he heard the response from the other line. He hurried over to the dining table.

Amy leaned to her left towards the fox and whispered. "Tails, when are you going to tell him?"

"I'll say it later. I rather do it if we're alone."

Sonic eyed his two friends talking to each other. He was going to ask what they were talking about. In fact, he had something on his mind to say. But before he could speak, the Greenie reappeared in the room. Zephyr handed the phone to Mario. He held it to his ear while the others looked at him curiously, wondering who was talking and what for. They observed the look on his face during the conversation.

"Are you serious?! …Okay! We'll meet you there!" Mario hung up the call. "That was E. Gadd. He said that Luigi's awake again!" he announced with a large smile.

"Really?! Oh, thank heavens!" Daisy clasped her hands together with a face full of hope.

"Come on, let's go see him now!" Tails shouted.

Everyone got out of their chairs and exited the mansion. Mario was the last one to leave as he decided to bring a breakfast plate to his brother. He was relieved and ecstatic to hear that Luigi's okay after the incident last night. Zephyr stayed behind to clean up the dishes.

* * *

Amy, Tails, Sonic, Daisy, Peach, and Mario entered the garage where they saw the professor standing proudly in his laboratory. He led the group into the guest bedroom where they saw their green friend sitting upright, Dr. Toadley sitting at his bedside, and Colombo resting in his lap. They turned their heads to the door where they saw the party. Luigi smiled brightly at everyone.

"H-Hello, guys," he stuttered.

Daisy ran up to him and gave him a hug. "Luigi! Are you alright?"

"I am now, thanks. The professor mentioned that you guys helped take care of me last night. I appreciate it."

Mario and Peach joined Daisy next to her while the animals stood on the opposite side of the bed. Dr. Toadley stepped outside the room to talk to E. Gadd in private.

The older brother handed the bedridden man a plate of blueberry pancakes. Then, he noticed something in front of him. In fact, everyone saw it and were shocked, except for Luigi and Colombo. On top of his sheets and sitting a few feet in front of the patient were the two Dark Moon pieces and…

"The Chaos Emeralds!" Sonic and Tails yelled simultaneously. They gave each other a look, surprised they said that out loud.

"Did you lose your Emerald, Tails?"

"Well, that's what I was going to say to you, if I had the chance to speak to you alone. I thought you were going to get angry. But I'm also surprised that you lost yours as well."

"And that's what I was going to tell you! I couldn't find mine when I went out for my run. I'm not mad, because they never left us. But I'm totally confused that they're here."

"And with the Dark Moon pieces as well. We saw Zephyr locked up the second one in the Vault last night!" Amy pointed out.

"So, how did they get here?" Princess Peach asked.

"I don't know. It was the first thing I noticed when I woke up before Dr. Toadley came in," mumbled Luigi.

Meanwhile, Professor E. Gadd was in the hallway conversing with the doctor.

"Were you sure you had them locked up in your safe?"

"Technically, my ghost assistant took care of that. I trust him as I much as I trust Luigi doing the ghost hunting. But the weird thing is, Luigi seemed to be normal after a similar incident. It happened once back at the hospital on Monday. The first Chaos Emerald and Dark Moon piece combined its powers and entered his body. Soon after that, he stood up and walked like he wasn't injured! Just this morning, I found the Emeralds and the fragments on his bed sheets! Before I could investigate what happened, you arrived and I decided not to bother you during the checkup. Instead, I went down to the Vault and the first thing I saw was my wall safe open. I even checked the security cameras and they were all out during the night. Frankly, to say I'm bewildered by this is a massive understatement."

"Hmm… Do you think someone intruded your Vault and the mansion to steal both sets of items? If so, who? And how? And why would they suddenly appear in Luigi's bed? Wouldn't the thief just run away with said objects? The answer… is a mystery."

E. Gadd pulled out a handkerchief and wiped the sweat off his head. "Ugh, all this thinking is making me stressed out. At least Luigi is back again. Thanks again for coming here." He held out his hand to shake.

Dr. Toadley took in the gesture. "Am I glad that Luigi's okay, again? Most certainly. Am I confident that he'll resume his business? I believe so. Just give him time to recompose himself. Until he's ready, you can let him go. Anyways, I'll be heading off. Make sure you keep a close eye on him and his friends."

"Will do, doc. Will do." And so, the professor waved Dr. Toadley goodbye. He returned to the guest room where the others were huddled around Luigi, setting the plate down after finishing his food.

"By the way guys, I have something I need to tell you. About last night."

"What is it, Luigi?" questioned Daisy.

"Well, Myster Edge _did_ pull me back from the Pixelator subspace into a dark area. It was probably an illusion to the Oblivion again."

His comment made Mario clench his fist. His prediction was right on the money. Meanwhile, Sonic was perplexed.

"Wait, I thought you dreamt about the Oblivion when you were hospitalized. How did you suddenly appear in it physically?"

"Even I don't know. But it was him who held me back from returning. And yes, I did meet him again. But there was something I noticed before he appeared."

"What happened?" Peach asked.

"The Dark Moon piece, when it still had negative energy, showed an image of something. It was Kongo Jungle."

"Kongo Jungle? You mean Donkey Kong's home?" Daisy repeated.

"Yes. And speaking of DK, I saw him and Diddy Kong being dragged by a robot and the Harsh Possessor!"

"The Harsh Possessor?" Amy echoed.

"The Harsh Possessor is the second of the five Possessor ghosts who guarded the Dark Moon fragments," E. Gadd explained as he joined the party. He stood in front of the bed. "Pray tell, Luigi, he does have a Dark Moon piece with him, correct?"

Luigi nodded. "Yeah. And he was with this robot. He seemed to look like E-123 Omega, the robot you guys talked about in one of your past adventures," he directed his reference towards Sonic and his friends. "Except he was more gold than red."

Peach's eyes widened. "Hey, that was the same robot we saw in the Vanilla Dome Caverns!"

"Yeah! It was that stupid Alpha guy!" Daisy acknowledged. **_(2)_**

"Oh yeah! That was him! Man, he was such a jerk. Unlike the original Omega, and not even as benevolent as Gamma."

"Do you remember anything else?" Tails wondered.

"No. Actually, yes. He hurt me once, and I got shocked by his powers. Then, he tried to attack me a second time. I activated a Shriek Shield from the Poltergust to protect me. But his electric orb surpassed the barrier and it harmed me, more than the first one."

"What?!" exclaimed E. Gadd. "That's impossible. I invented the Shriek Shield to help you avoid any kind of attack."

"It must be a lousy prototype or something." E. Gadd stared at Sonic for criticizing his work.

"It just goes to show that anything can happen; expect the unexpected," Mario muttered. "First Luigi's defense backfired. Suddenly, the Dark Moon pieces and the Chaos Emeralds that we've collected ended up here."

"By the way, Luigi, did you get revitalized by these objects? Kind of like the time you were in the hospital?"

"I did feel better when I woke up, Tails. I do feel full of energy again, but I don't remember when I first felt that way."

"Maybe it occurred overnight," assumed Peach.

"If it did, then I don't know how we slept through that. We were in the same room," Daisy placed a hand on her chin.

"Regardless, I should be able to get up and start our next adventure soon. And I definitely believe we should head to Kongo Jungle."

"Well what about Sparkling Waters or even Evershade Valley?"

"Mario, I'm pretty sure the Dark Moon piece was sending me a message for some reason. And technically, Harsh was the second Possessor I faced. Ironically, he's in another area known for plants. **_(3)_** The stars align to lead us in the right direction, or in this case, the Dark Moon piece."

"Okay, if you feel confident about that."

"I'm going to head back and get the Poltergust. Meanwhile, I'll take these with me." Elvin took the purple fragments with him and exited the bedroom.

Sonic and Tails grabbed the green and yellow Emeralds and put them away. "Let's make sure that we don't lose these again."

"Roger that."

"I think Toadsworth would want us to return to the castle, so I don't think we'll able to accompany you guys," Peach declared.

The tomboy princess groaned. "That's a shame. I would actually like to join."

"We appreciate the offer, but I have to agree with Peach. You know how worrisome that Toad can be. I've heard enough ranting from him. Before we head off, we'll walk you over to the castle."

"Thanks, Mario."

"I guess the five of us will be going to Kongo Jungle."

"Bark! Bark!"

"Oops! Sorry, six of us." The Polterpup panted happily as Amy petted him.

Luigi leaned back on the headrest and looked at his brother. The two stared at each other with a mix of relief and uncertainty. Relief, coming from Luigi being alright and healthy again. Uncertain, because they have that instinct where things could go wrong in a snap. But they weren't going to chicken out when the fate of all worlds is at stake.

"Don't worry, Weege. I'll be with you along with everyone else. We got your back."

"Definitely," Sonic and Tails nodded at him. The girls all gave him a reassuring smile.

Luigi looked down at Colombo who had his tongue sticking out, ambitious for another journey. He grinned back at everyone, knowing he was in the comfort of his friends.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Luigi is, once again, ready for action! Their next destination: Kongo Jungle. What dangers and surprises await our heroes? As for the infiltration, whoever committed the, surprisingly helpful, crime must have helped our green protagonist overnight. But who done it? And why?_

 _Stay tuned for Ch. 26 in the next two weeks or so. Thanks for reading as always! Be sure to favorite/follow, review, and I'll see you guys after I return from vacation! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _For those who have played_ _Dark Moon_ _, picture it as the West Bedroom found in the Haunted Towers, but bigger with extra amenities, fitting enough for a modern mansion._

 ** _(2):_** _I realized that I never truly described what Alpha (Myster Edge's top robot minion) looked like, so there's your vague, lazy description of him._

 ** _(3):_** _The Harsh Possessor was the main boss in the Haunted Towers, the location I was referring to, in_ _Dark Moon_ _. It's a greenhouse-like mansion built around a humongous tree and is full of plants, flowers, and other living things. It can be compared to the forest theme, and it kind of correlates to Kongo Jungle to an extent._


	27. Ch 26: Something on His Mind

_A/N:_ _Hey guys! TGN here, back from vacation! Sorry for posting this late on Monday, but at least you didn't have to wait another week. As for this chapter, the weird part is that I wrote the first half throughout my overnight flight, on my_ _ **phone**_ _. And let me tell you, it was very tedious and frustrating to type and edit on there since I didn't have my laptop. Regardless, I was able to re-edit everything on my computer making it ten times easier. And so, Ch. 26 is complete! Thanks for waiting patiently and I hope you enjoy this one!_

 ** _*NOTE:_** ** _Whoops! All the times I mentioned the Tough Possessor, I meant to write Harsh (probably because I was tired when I wrote the first half at 3 in the morning). :P_**

 ** _Don't worry. I re-edited those parts. But if you read it and were confused, sorry for the mistakes._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I still don't own the Mario or Sonic characters and I probably never will._

* * *

 **Chapter 26:** Something on His Mind

 _Location: Toad Town_

Luigi redressed in his new set of navy blue overalls and green shirt after getting up from bed. The professor handed him the Poltergust 6000, recharged with the max amount of Shriek Shields again. He left Boo Woods with Mario and his friends to escort the princesses back to Toad Town. Professor E. Gadd and Zephyr once again stayed behind at the lab and waved the party goodbye. As they arrived at the square, the Mario Bros. stopped at the store to restock their items. After they finished shopping, they resumed their walk towards Peach's Castle. There, everyone saw Toadsworth, Toad, and Toadette waiting outside on the bridge.

"Princess! Welcome back. You're alright, my dear?"

"I'm fine, Toadsworth. Thank you."

"Princess Daisy. You're okay, as well?"

"Yes, Toadsworth. i am," she replied, rolling her eyes. She hated whenever the elder Toad always asks about her safety.

"And Master Luigi, I hope you're feeling better than before."

"I appreciate your concern. And yes, I am well after what happened last night."

"It's a relief to see you again, Luigi. I was worried you wouldn't come back!" said Toadette.

"And that's how I felt earlier. Actually, that's how we all felt," Mario added.

"I assume you're off once again on another adventure?"

"That's right."

"So where are you guys heading off to next?" asked Toad.

"Luigi decided that we should visit Kongo Jungle. Apparently Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were ambushed," Tails explained.

"What?! What happened? Are they alright?"

"No," Luigi shook his head. "I saw a vision from the Dark Moon fragment. They were being dragged across the jungle by that Alpha robot and one of the Possessor ghosts. Both looked horrible, pretty badly. And who knows if they were taken to another part of the jungle or anywhere else that could be dangerous."

"We also have no idea where Shads, Silver, and our other friends are held captive. Oh, and Knuckles, too," Sonic pointed out.

"I thought you said Shadow hates that nickname. And aren't you and Knuckles friends?" Mario wondered.

"Eh, the whole 'and Knuckles' thing is a running gag. **_(1)_** Besides, we can be rivals at times. That knucklehead is very ill-tempered and can put a good fight. Same with Shads. And just because he isn't here doesn't mean I can't say it," he chuckled.

"Just be sure you don't say it in front of him again after we rescue him," warned Luigi. "Back in Rio, the last time you ticked him off with that, he came at you with a hard fist, only for you to dodge it, no surprise, and he connected it with my groin that got busted for two weeks. I couldn't participate in the rest of the Games, nor even walk thanks to you!"

Sonic gave his green friend a sheepish shrug when he brought up that unfortunate memory.

"Either way, we hope you guys can find them quickly. I'll allow you access to our private helicopter to travel to Kongo Jungle," Toadsworth offered.

"Private helicopter? That's awesome!" exclaimed Amy. "Although, I kind of wish you girls would join us, but don't worry! We'll handle it from here!"

"I believe you'll be okay. But do be safe, everyone," reassured Peach.

Sonic gave a thumbs-up and winked. "No problem!"

"Please be careful out there, Luigi. I want you back unharmed." Daisy stepped in front of him and pecked his nose.

He blushed in return while Mario smirked. "T-thanks, Daisy. I'll try my best."

"And we'll help you out to avoid any tricks from Edge and his minions," the fox mentioned to him.

"Thanks, Tails."

"We wish you the best of luck, Masters Mario, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, Colombo, and Miss Rose."

"Thanks, Toadsworth. Well guys, off to Kongo Jungle!" Mario declared determinedly.

"Bark! Bark!"

The party of six reached the castle's helipad near the backyard garden. They boarded the Mushroom Copter to take to the skies. Mario and Luigi sat in the two co-pilot seats while Sonic, Amy, and Tails assembled in the back. Colombo hopped onto Luigi's lap. The brothers checked the controls and made sure everyone was ready for takeoff. After sending their farewells to the princesses and Toads, the heroes flew off towards Donkey Kong's habitat.

* * *

 _Location: Edge's HQ_

"Alpha. Status report on the monkeys you and Harsh captured in the jungle," demanded the Shadow Spirit, sitting in his chair.

The Omega-cloned robot walked up to his leader. "Myster Edge, we have hauled the Kongs to the Monkey Mines. **_(2)_** We locked them up in the bottom-most sanctum so they wouldn't escape, not even those mine carts. Harsh called several of the ghosts to help barricade and supervise the dungeon."

"Good. Now what about Rocco and the Chaos Emeralds?"

Alpha responded with a monotone bleep. "I haven't received any word or messages from him, sire. He hasn't picked up his communicator every time I tried to call him. Not a single response."

Edge grunted. "Lousy robot. So the yellow and green ones are still out there in that hedgehog's world?"

"We can only assume that. We aren't quite certain. After all, he may have one of the Emeralds in his possession, yet he's unable to contact us. There is also a possibility the heroes might hold at least one of them."

"If that's the case, then I will deal some critical punishment to those meddlesome fools, especially towards that green man."

"Not to be so… incognizant, to say the least, but why are you so intent on harming your target, sir? I don't understand the purpose."

He thought for a second before giving a vague response. "Just because."

Alpha knew he was obviously being discreet on his intentions. There was a reason why he needed Luigi for his future plans. But there's another motive why his boss wanted to hurt, yet not kill, him. _Pleasure._ Edge felt fulfilled whenever he harmed someone, like a drunk, abusive parent who punches or slaps their children without mercy. And he mainly focused on the green-clothed Italian as his sole victim. His red brother and friends were also involved, but the villain was more satisfied whenever he abused Luigi the most. The question is, why _him_ of all people? And _what_ exactly was his reason? He doesn't deserve this much torture.

"Well, regardless of the current situation, _and your questionable sanity_ -" he muttered that last bit to himself, "-I am confident enough that you will claim the remaining Emeralds. And as for the production of the Dark Shards, I am proud to announce that our army has helped amass thousands of those Dark Moon copies. You would have enough energy to become the greatest, most powerful being to ever live! You are that close to creating the Oblivion to end the kingdom, this entire world, and every other piece of existence to damnation! And then you can take over your new empire and avenge your friend-"

"I request you to _stop_ right there, Alpha. I do NOT want _that name_ to be aforementioned… just yet."

Alpha turned to his leader and bowed apologetically. "My mistake, Myster Edge."

"God damn it." Edge rubbed his right temple while he rotated his chair to face away from Alpha. He let out a heavy, disgruntled sigh. "Well, that's all I need from you. You may head back to your post."

Alpha bowed again, even though Edge didn't see. "Thank you, my liege. Again, I apologize for the inconvenience."

"Just go."

Alpha somewhat hesitated and exited the lair. Edge locked up the door with his supercomputer and bit his lower lip. He leaned back in his seat while tapping his purple fingers against the glass control panel. He glanced over at his scepter holding the five Chaos Emeralds he kept since the beginning. He wanted those last two Emeralds in his grasp as soon as possible, for he was tenacious, not patient. And he desired to have _him_ avenged…

* * *

 _Location: Kongo Jungle_

The Kongs residence rested at the foot of Monkey Mountains, the last place where Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were before they were suddenly attacked that night. High above the swaying palm trees was the Mushroom Copter the Mario Bros. were piloting. Sonic, Tails, and Amy got to sightsee from their chairs as they passed through the Mushroom Kingdom. But this was no time to sit around and admire the landscape. They needed to rescue their primate friends and recover the third Dark Moon fragment. Looking outside from the two black-tinted windows (which were the eyes of the mushroom-themed vehicle), the plumbers spotted the ape's homeland and slowly lowered to the ground.

"We're preparing to land. We'll disembark near DK's treehouse," Mario told the gang.

"It's about time! I could've-"

"We get it, Sonic. You could've gotten there faster by foot," Tails interrupted.

Sonic gave his friend a look. "I was gonna say I could've gotten a chili dog to eat before we left. I'm starving right now. Your claim was true, but that wasn't my main point."

"Yeah, that's a pathetic way to cover up a lie," Amy seemed unimpressed.

"Well it's not, okay?!"

"Guys, enough arguing back there!" Mario yelled.

He landed the copter about twenty feet away from the abode. Colombo hopped off Luigi's lap and everyone got out of their seats. Mario opened the helicopter door and the six walked up to a sandy patch where they saw the large banana hoard, DK's treehouse, and a couple other houses in the jungle.

"So how should we search this place?" Mario asked.

"Should we split up? We could cover more ground that way."

"Good idea, Luigi," said Tails.

"I'll be paired with Sonic!"

"Ugh…" the blue hedgehog groaned to himself.

"What was that?"

"Eh… nothing, Amy! Just…" Sonic whistled an innocent tune, earning an annoyed look from the girl.

"Well, how about Mario joins you two that way and I'll search with Tails and Colombo this way."

"I think that's fair. I wouldn't mind if Mario comes with us."

"I guess it's okay. What do you think, Mario?"

Mario didn't answer Sonic. He looked at Luigi with an uncomfortable face.

"Hello, Earth to Mario?" he waved his gloved hand in front of him.

Mario shook his head and looked at him who raised an eyebrow. "Sorry. What was that?"

"I said that it's okay if you join me and Amy. I trust Tails to go with Luigi and the dog. Then I asked if you're cool with it, but you didn't say anything."

"Oh. Um, yeah sure."

"Mario, is something wrong?"

He turned to Tails when he asked that question. "No, nothing's wrong," he said quickly and defensively.

"Only if you say so." The fox wasn't sure if Mario was telling the truth. "Anyways, Luigi and I have our communicators ready. You guys have yours?"

"Definitely," Amy showed hers on her wrist.

"We gotta get you one soon, Mario," Sonic contemplated.

"I agree. I can make you one when I go back to my workshop if you want."

"I appreciate that, Tails. But we should focus on the main problem right now. Let's go find DK and Diddy."

"Good luck, guys," said Luigi as he, Colombo, and Tails walked away.

Sonic, Amy, and Mario headed in a different direction. However, both parties did not realize the pair of white eyes looking at them. And when the group went in their respective paths, the figure rushed through the jungle. It was headed in the direction where the red plumber and the two hedgehogs were walking towards.

* * *

Deep in the jungle, it was quiet if you ignored the calls of the birds. Mario, Sonic, and Amy went through Jungle Hijinxs until they came across some Klaptraps and several Kritters. Using her effective hammer, Amy slammed the crocodiles off her dress and Sonic's shoes. Mario used his fire power to burn some TNT barrels to get rid of the Kremlings that tried to attack them. Sonic helped by spin dashing into them and running around in circles to throw dust in their eyes. After getting rid of the enemies, they came across a small river with several stepping stones found above the surface and a large log that acted as a bridge. The water wasn't raging; it was very calming and serene so it wasn't too dangerous. But for Sonic, he felt uneasy because, well, you know.

"Here, Sonic," she offered a hand to him. "We'll take it slow across the stones."

"…Thanks, Ames."

She slightly blushed and they both held each other's hands tightly. Step by step, Amy led the two over the stones while Mario balanced on the wooden trunk.

"You okay, Sonic?" he called from five feet away.

"Yeah, I am. But I should be asking you that question."

"What do you mean by that?"

Amy and Sonic reached the other side of the river. "When Luigi suggested to split up and he would go with Tails and Colombo, you didn't seem on board with the plan."

Mario hopped off the log and confronted the Blue Blur. "There's nothing wrong with that, so let's just put it there."

Sonic knew that his friend was being stubborn. "Mario, don't lie to me."

"I'm not lying to you!"

"Yes you are. You're being defensive again! What the hell is the matter?"

"It's nothing, Sonic," Mario said in a dark tone. "Just ignore everything and let's move." He started to walk away. Amy stood still and didn't say anything because she didn't want to become part of the rising tension.

Sonic remained in his spot as well. He crossed his arms and tapped his right shoe with an angry expression. "I'm not taking a single step until you tell me what's your problem."

Mario stopped and looked back. "Why can't you just stop bothering me and keep going? We have to rescue DK and we have to find your friends, too. I also want to find Yoshi as well."

"I know that, Mario. I want to find my friends because they're important to me. But what's also important is knowing that everything should be okay and it's not. And you are part of the problem since you're dismissing me every time I interrogate you."

"Fine! You want to know what's bothering me?!"

"It's the one thing I've been waiting for you to answer."

Mario shut his eyes for a second before he reopened them. He tried his best to compose himself. "I should've gone with Luigi to protect him."

"Mario, he's with Tails and I trust him being away from me. They can look out for one another. Do you not trust my little buddy?" Sonic sounded offended.

"No, I don't distrust Tails. I'm worried about not being next to him."

"What's the deal with being separated from your brother?"

"If I leave him out there alone, something bad is going to happen! I just know it. And I'm not going to let get him hurt, again!"

Sonic was getting tired of Mario's excuses. "Dude, you got to let go of the past! You shouldn't be holding this shit against you just because he got tortured multiple times. You've been on adventures without him and you rarely feel uncomfortable without his presence."

"That's because I leave him alone in the case he _does_ get hurt. All those times I didn't invite him on my journeys wasn't because I didn't want to exclude him. I care about his safety."

"You're being overprotective again. This is just like you and your argument with him in the hospital. Why do you have to shelter him from the outside world? Why can't you just let him be free and do what he wants?"

Mario didn't respond as he turned his back from him. Sonic inhaled deeply and walked up to him. He stopped just a foot behind him. Amy watched both of them, shuddering in silence from all the high heat.

"Mario, the way you care about Luigi is the same way I care about Tails. Before, he was way too young to fight with me against Eggman. But since he's been growing and becoming more mature, I trained him to become my sidekick. He's even becoming a hero in himself. And the more that I think about it, it makes me wonder if he'll ever stop needing me in the future. I hope not because I wouldn't know what to do without him. But sometimes, he can be independent at the right time, at the right place. And yes, I also care about his safety because I don't want him hurt at all. If he does, I pin the blame on myself. But then, I just move on once we both feel better...

"You're being difficult in this situation though. I understand that you want Luigi to be unharmed, but you have to realize that he can take care of himself. After all, he did save you from the ghosts. He has been on a couple adventures. There are times where he was a hero to the kingdom. And that all happened without your assistance. You gotta believe in him. Don't you?"

Mario slightly turned his head, but didn't turn around to face him. "I do believe in him. I just…"

"You what?"

"I just can't bear the fact that if he gets tortured by Edge or is used to whatever plan that figure is up to, if he's used for something horrible like death… I don't know what to think anymore."

Amy finally decided to speak after her friends had a rant that turned into a serious discussion.

"Mario," she placed a hand on her shoulder. Both Mario and Sonic looked up to her. "It's going to be alright. Luigi's going to be alright. And if something bad happens, we'll support and avenge him for whatever happens. We won't let Myster Edge get away easily for the pain and suffering he caused. And as long as you're safe too, then we should be fine."

He looked at the two hedgehogs whose faces showed signs of sincerity. He took in his friends' words and calmed down. That caused him to smile.

"Thanks, guys. I feel a little better now. Sorry for getting mad and making things complicated."

"It's nothing, Mario," Sonic shook it off and smiled back. "I care about you and I hate to see you upset."

"I appreciate it."

The two shook hands to rekindle their friendship. Amy then jumped in between to start a group hug.

"I'm so glad you guys are back."

"Heh, we never left at all, Ames."

"Yeah, but I just hate it whenever you guys fight."

"We'll try to not let that happen again," Mario promised.

"Absolutely," Sonic agreed.

Suddenly, the three heard a rustle in the bushes. They broke off the embracement and formed a circle with their backs to each other as they looked around.

"Hey! Who's there?" Sonic called.

"If you're one of Edge's robots, we're not afraid of you!" Mario added.

"Yeah! We'll take you down easi-LYYYYYYYY!"

Amy's shriek caused Sonic and Mario to look behind, only to find Amy missing.

"Amy! Amy, where are you?!"

There was no answer, which made Sonic really concerned.

Mario then saw something move past the trees. "Sonic, look!" he pointed. The hedgehog looked in his direction and made off with a little pink in the distance.

Sonic clenched his teeth and raised a fist. "Whoever took her, they're gonna pay."

"I bet it's the Tough Possessor. Grouchy pulled a similar stunt to me back in Vanilla Dome. He was invisible and then just took me away from Luigi."

"If it's him, maybe he'll take us to where DK and Diddy are. Let's go, Mario!"

"Right!" And so, the red and blue heroes sprinted in pursuit of Amy and her kidnapper.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Cliffhanger moment! Mario and Sonic are off to rescue Amy. Will they save her? Can they also find DK and Diddy? And what about Luigi, Tails, and Colombo? Find out on the next chapter of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _._

 _Thanks for reading as usual, and I appreciate you guys once again for waiting two weeks for this one to be uploaded. Be sure to review, favorite/follow, and all that good stuff! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I really couldn't help myself but pull a 'and Knuckles' meme coming from the game_ _Sonic & Knuckles_ _._

 ** _(2):_** _Monkey Mines is the second region, just after Kongo Jungle, in_ _Donkey Kong Country_ _. Even though I never played the game, I chose this place for the Kongs' imprisonment. Plus, I wanted to integrate the mine carts later in the story._


	28. Ch 27: Mine Cart Rampage

_A/N:_ _Happy early Independence Day, everyone._

 _Also, to guest reviewer, Mimi, I initially put this under the Mario/Sonic crossover category, but I moved it to the Mario section since this fanfiction mainly focuses on Luigi. Mario, Sonic, and Tails have major roles while other characters such as Peach and Amy are integrated, but having Luigi as the main lead is my reason for this move. You are correct that it should be under crossovers, but I changed it. I've explained this in the (edited) prologue and in Ch. 19. Nonetheless, I appreciate the review!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Still don't own Mario, Sonic, or anything but the story and my OCs to this day._

* * *

 **Chapter 27:** Mine Cart Rampage

 _Location: Barrel Cannon Canyon_ _ **(1)**_

Luigi, Tails, and Colombo crossed through the grassy terrain, but were unsuccessful to find any leads on the whereabouts of Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong. The only action they ran into was similar to Mario, Sonic, and Amy's experience. They fought some Kritters and got rid of the Klaptraps, one of which unfortunately bit Luigi's ass. The only difference was that they managed to find a couple of Edge's robot henchmen. Tails used his namesakes to destroy the androids with the help Colombo chewing off their legs. Luigi used his jumping techniques and ice powers to deal some damage and freeze the foes. Even though there weren't any ghosts, he activated the Poltergust to use two Shriek Shields, one for both him and Tails, while Colombo used his disappearing ability to avoid any counterattacks.

By the time they finished their battle, Luigi ate a Super Mushroom to regain health and a Refreshing Herb to heal his wound from behind. Tails was given some brewed Mushroom Tea and Colombo swallowed a golden bone whole. Feeling refreshed, the trio made their way to the Barrel Cannon Canyon, a large jungle region with various abysses and cannons to use for fast travel.

Tails had one good look at the area and was amazed. "Wow, this place is full of barrel cannons. I can see how DK and Diddy get through this jungle with ease. I mean, whenever they're not climbing trees, that is."

"You don't have to ride them. You can fly over these gaps easily with your tails," Luigi pointed out.

"True. But then again, I've never got shot out of a cannon before."

"Well I won't stop you if you want to go that. Regardless, I'll have to the barrels either way. I don't think you would want to carry me over. This abyss looks pretty deep and the other side is far away. Plus, I have to carry Colombo which would make it more difficult for you."

"I carried you and Mario before back at the castle."

"I know. But I don't want to fatigue you even more. You've already fought a lot of robots back there and chances are more of them could be coming up later."

"I understand, but I'm okay, Luigi."

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo barked at them, slightly irritated that they're wasting time.

"Sorry, Colombo. You're right. Come on, Tails. Let's use the barrel cannons."

Tails went in the barrel first and shot out in a spin dash form while screaming with excitement. His trajectory shot him to another cannon and continued the path with some barrels moving up and down or rotating around. The fox strategically timed his shots to make his way to the next one. By then, he shot out of the last barrel and flew to the other side of the canyon.

"Wahoo!" he shouted before landing safely. "That was awesome! Your turn, Luigi!"

"Ready, boy?" he asked while picking up the Polterpup in his hands.

"Arf!" Colombo yipped.

"Let's-a-go!" Luigi hopped inside the barrel and shot from cannon to cannon across the gap. The plumber managed to reach Tails after shooting out of the last barrel.

"Whoa!" Luigi landed awkwardly, but at least he didn't fall. He rebalanced himself before setting Colombo down. "Well, that's my thrill ride of the day."

"Heh, you weren't that scared, were you, Luigi?"

"What? Scared? That wasn't so bad," he chuckled embarrassingly.

"Don't worry. I was just playing with you."

Luigi looked around and hollered with his hands on the sides of his mouth. "DK! Diddy! Are you here?!" There was no response.

"Looks like they aren't."

"Come on. Let's keep going. If they aren't here, maybe we can find them up ahead."

"Gotcha. I'm right next to you."

"Bark! Bark!"

Luigi, Tails, and Colombo walked towards the next set of trees as they delve deeper in Kongo Jungle in search of the captured primates.

* * *

 _Location: Monkey Mines_

Sonic and Mario continued running to find where Amy was taken away. The hedgehog ran faster than the plumber, but he tried not to go too far ahead of him in case they both got separated.

"Come on, Mario! We have to hurry!" Sonic shouted.

"I'm sorry I'm not as fast as you," Mario called from behind.

"Just keep running!"

"I don't plan on stopping anyway!"

Eventually, the two paused their running when they came up to the Monkey Mines. The old, rocky terrain had some tunnels that led into the mountain. The mines featured the famous Mine Cart Carnage where DK and Diddy rode on the mine carts to traverse through the multi-leveled tracks.

They still didn't say a word, but they did hear a girlish scream from inside.

"SOOOONIIIIIC!" cried Amy. Her call echoed from inside.

"She's definitely in here," Sonic said to Mario and turned to the entrance. "Hold on, Amy! We're coming for you!" He was about to enter, but Mario held him back.

"Wait! Don't you think we should wait and call Tails and Luigi to meet us here?"

"But Amy's in there, Mario. If we dawdle too long, she could get hurt, and I cannot let that happen!"

"But the Harsh Possessor is also in there, maybe even some Evershade ghosts. We don't have the power to stop them, not even your Chaos Emerald is effective to stun them. Only Luigi's Strobulb can."

Sonic folded his arms. "That's so lame."

"Maybe, but I honestly doubt we can survive without Luigi's help. Seriously, you do not want to mess with the Possessors. You may be smart and strong enough to fight Eggman's robots, but chances are that Harsh will play another trick on us. We could end up in trouble if we're not prepared. We could be bait, just like Amy. Believe me, Sonic, that's happened to me more than once."

Sonic took in Mario's advice, juxtaposing to his capture from the Grouchy Possessor and the other times from King Boo. He sighed as he knew Mario was right. "Alright then. I'll give Tails a call." He contacted Tails' communicator and waited for his buddy to pick up. In little to no time, the fox immediately answered the call.

"Sonic, Mario. What's up?"

"Tails, we're at the Monkey Mines. Meet us there as soon as possible."

"Hold on. Where's Amy?" Luigi asked.

"That's the thing. She was taken away from us."

"What?!" they both yelled.

"We think the Harsh Possessor took her here," presumed Mario. "And if we're correct, DK and Diddy might also be trapped somewhere inside."

"Listen, we don't know what's in there, but we're gonna wait for you. Because who knows if there's more ghosts other than Harsh. And we don't have the ability to catch them. Only you can, Luigi."

Luigi nodded his head. "You have a point. We'll get to the mines quickly then."

"Thanks for telling us, guys. We'll see you soon." Tails hung up the call.

Sonic turned back to the entrance of the cave. "That ghost better not have harmed Amy," he muttered bitterly.

Mario was facing the other way towards the blue skies and the sun shining down. He watched the trees move from the small breeze. He thought to himself, _"And_ _ **he**_ _better not harm Luigi again. Because if he does… Ugh, he's going to fucking regret it."_

Sonic turned around and caught a glimpse of Mario's scowl. He was going to say something, but held back to avoid starting another argument with him. Instead, he sat down near the mine entrance and looked at the same view before closing his eyes.

* * *

Less than ten minutes later, Tails, Colombo, and Luigi finally made it to the Monkey Mines after receiving the distress call. They saw Sonic resting on the ground while Mario stood next to him, leaning against the wall with a hand. He turned to see the party of three.

Tails caught his breath before speaking. "We're here. Sorry if we took too long. We had some more fights against the robots and Luigi caught a couple of ghosts."

"It wasn't easy, that's for sure," Luigi panted.

"No, you're fine," Mario responded.

Sonic opened his eyes when he heard talking. He yawned, stretched his arms out, and scratched his back. "Oh, you guys are here. Great."

"Everyone ready to enter?" Mario asked everyone. The others nodded.

"Okay. Let's-a-go!"

Mario led the gang inside the mine entrance. They continuously walked down a rocky path and came across some barrels. However, there was something odd about them.

Tails investigated one of them. "Is it just me, or do these barrels look like they're levitating?"

Sonic joined him and scrutinized. "Yeah, I think they are. But why?"

Luigi had an idea. He took out his Dark-Light Device and shined a rainbow streak towards the barrels. Two images became clear and showed some Greenies.

"Look out!"

However, the Greenies reacted and threw the barrels at Sonic and Tails.

"Ooof! Jeez, where did they come from?!" Sonic yelled.

Luigi activated his Strobulb and stunned the ghosts. He sucked them up at full power and caught them in his vacuum.

Mario helped the Mobians back up. "You two okay?"

"Ugh, sort of," Sonic dusted himself off. "Those Greenies are so cheap!"

"Cheeky, too," Tails added.

"Sorry, guys. I should have shot a shield at both of you," Luigi apologized.

"It's not your fault, Luigi. We just didn't expect it in time," said Tails.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo barked to get everyone's attention. In front of him were two mine carts found on separate tracks.

"Hey! Maybe these carts will take us to the Harsh Possessor," Mario pointed out.

"If so, that will lead us to Amy, DK, and Diddy," Tails figured.

"Alright! I could handle a high-speed mine cart ride. It'll be like a roller coaster!" Sonic smirked.

Mario, Luigi, and Colombo entered the first mine cart while Sonic and Tails hopped in the other. As soon as they got on, both vehicles began slowly before descending a steep slope. The carts went down at almost one hundred miles per hour. It may not be fast for the Blue Blur, but he seemed to be enjoying the experience.

"Woohoo! This is awesome!" Sonic pumped his fists in the air.

"Whoa-ho-ho! I agree! This is so fun!" Tails shouted next to him.

"Oooooh, I don't feel so good right now," Luigi started to feel sick in a couple of seconds.

"Just hang on tight, Luigi! We're getting there!" assured Mario.

"Arf! Arf!"

The mine carts twisted and turned across the metal rails. The winding paths had the heroes standing sideways while holding onto the front of the carts. They went through some corkscrews, jumped over large gaps, and alternated between multiple levels of railing. At one point, both carts were parallel to each other.

"Now this is what I'm talking about!" Sonic yelled to the others.

"Hopefully this ride can sooner than later," Luigi mumbled.

Suddenly, Tails noticed a Greenie rushing behind Mario's cart. He was holding a boulder with his hands, preparing to throw it.

"Guys, duck!"

Mario and Luigi turned around to see the ghost and he launched the rock at them.

"Whoa!"

The brothers ducked in their cart with Luigi protecting Colombo as they avoid getting hit.

"Hey! That was not cool!" Mario hissed.

The Greenie grabbed another rock and hovered towards Sonic's cart. Luigi noticed this and just as the ghost was about to hit them, he shot a Shriek Shield. Luckily, the barrier protected the entire cart and his friends inside rather than having one of them shielded. The rock bounced off and hit the Greenie from the rebound. That got him worked up and he sped towards them again.

"Uh oh! Look out!" Sonic pointed at the end of the path ahead. About two hundred feet away, everyone saw the tracks were obstructed by a hoard of Greenies who were hoisting more rocks and Slammers preparing to smash their hands on their rides.

"Oh no! We're doomed!" Luigi yelled.

"Everyone, we have to jump off!"

"What?! Bro, are you crazy?!"

"We have to if we want to avoid getting slammed, Luigi!" Mario searched the path ahead and saw a separate tunnel on the right. "Look, there's a place we can jump to before the carts reach the ghosts. Get ready on my count!"

"We're waiting!" called Sonic.

As the mine carts rushed down the tracks, the ghosts were set to attack.

"One, two, three, JUMP!"

Mario, Luigi, Colombo, Sonic, and Tails all jumped out of their vehicles onto the slab of rock. The mine carts ran down the rails before falling off into the mine's chasm. The twin-tailed kit easily made it over by flying while the others landed safely. But for Luigi…

"AAHHH!" He landed on the edge of the flat surface, but it crumbled off when his foot barely caught ground.

"Luigi!" Mario leaned forward and grabbed his brother before he could fall. He was laying on his stomach near the edge while grasping Luigi's hand tightly. "Don't let go, bro!"

"I'm trying not to!"

"Hurry, Mario! The ghosts are trying to chase us!" Tails panicked. He pointed out the Greenies and Slammers who saw their escape route and decided to run into them.

Mario finally managed to pull Luigi on the ledge. Being quick on his feet, Luigi rotated and activated his Strobulb with a weak, yet fast flash. He was able to stun two Greenies and a Slammer.

"Defend yourselves, guys! I'll take them out as quickly as I can!"

While Luigi started sucking up the ghosts, the others dodged the punches and slaps the remaining ghosts were pulling off. Mario wall-jumped away from a Greenie, causing him to crash into a wall. Sonic spin dashed a different Greenie and started a chain reaction of homing attacks on the Slammers. Tails whipped his namesakes to wipe out a pair of ghosts. Colombo used his invisibility powers to help his friends since Luigi was unable to send Shriek Shields while capturing his set of ghosts.

"Get in here, you!" Luigi struggled until he finally captured the Greenies and Slammer he was dealing with. Soon after that, he managed to suck up the other ghosts after Mario, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo avoided their attacks. "Is everyone alright?" he asked the team.

Tails wiped some sweat of his forehead. "Yeah. Man, that was too tiring to handle. First we go on a high-speed mine cart ride. Then all of a sudden we run into some paranormal trouble."

"I have to admit, Mario. We probably wouldn't have gone further than this without Luigi and his vacuum," Sonic stated.

"Exactly. Thanks again, Weege," declared Mario.

"Uh, it's no problem, I guess," Luigi scratched the back of his head in slight embarrassment. He still wasn't used to earning praise from his older brother.

Sonic looked ahead at the tunnel. "I guess this is the only way to go, now that our mine carts are gone."

"I wonder where this will take us," Mario thought out loud.

"We can only hope that it'll take us to DK, Diddy, and Amy."

Luigi switched back to his flashlight and turned it on. "I'm ready if you guys are."

"Bark!" Colombo barked for confirmation. The others nodded and walked inside following the man in green.

The long tunnel brought the heroes further down into the mines until they reached a large dungeon. Luigi, again, had some spooky encounters with a few Greenies and Slammers and even caught some Hiders for the first time in this adventure. He also had to waste a Shriek Shield on Mario when a Hider attempted to launch a fastball at him.

"I appreciate that you're helping me be safe, but how many shields do you have left?"

Luigi checked the meter. "Only six."

"That's not so bad. You probably have enough until you meet up with Harsh."

"Please don't remind me, Mario."

"I'm just saying," he shrugged.

"Hey, do you hear voices?" the heroes heard a gruff voice.

"Did you say something, Sonic?"

"That wasn't me, Tails."

"Ooh yeah! I do hear someone!" coming from a high-pitched screech.

"That sounded like Sonic and Tails!" an enthusiastic girl voice spoke up.

Sonic's eyes widened in realization. "Hey! That was Amy!"

"And she's probably with DK and Diddy!" Mario assumed.

They ran deeper into the dark room and within a few seconds, the five encountered their friends trapped in a cavernous prison with stalagmites and stalactites acting as the bars.

"Sonic! You came!" Amy delightfully yelled.

"Amy! Whew, I'm so glad you're safe."

"You're not hurt, are you?" Tails asked.

"Nope! But Donkey Kong and Diddy have kept me in good company, at least."

"Hey, mates!" DK greeted the Mario Bros. "I can see that you're here as well!"

"DK, Diddy! Are you two alright?" Mario wondered.

"We weren't at first. We got shot with tranquilizer darts!" Diddy complained. "And my tank top is ruined!"

"My necktie is torn, too. But other than that, we haven't been harmed after that."

"Do you know where the Harsh Possessor and that Alpha robot is?

"I heard Alpha returning to his boss's headquarters after locking us up. We haven't seen a trace of that despicable ghost, however."

"How are we going to get you out of here?" Tails scratched his head.

"It's actually simple. There's a button across from us that activates the barrier."

Everyone turned around and saw an orange button with a label reading 'DO NOT PRESS' above it.

Sonic was unimpressed. "Wow, that's pretty… anticlimactic and stupid for a security system."

"Should we press it?" Luigi asked.

"Gee, I don't know. For something that says 'DO NOT PRESS', do you _really_ think we should?"

"I was just asking, Sonic."

"Just press it, Weege. I don't think anything that bad is going to happen," Mario responded.

Luigi walked up to the button and clicked it. The rocky columns activated to open the prison, but immediately a loud siren blared in the mines.

"Gah! That's so loud!" Tails shut his ears.

"You don't think anything bad is gonna happen, huh, Mario?!"

"I don't your damn back sass, Sonic!"

"Hurry, everyone! We know a shortcut to get out of here!" DK called the others.

"Yeah, follow us this way!" Diddy hollered with a hand gesture.

Everyone followed the two primates out of the dungeon and through a secret passageway. They knew that this would lead to a hidden exit of the mines to return to the jungle. With DK and Diddy leading the pack, Amy, Colombo, and Tails followed by behind. Mario and Sonic were running neck at neck and Luigi was at the back.

Then, he heard some internal screeching and shot a glance behind him. And what he saw frightened him. It was an angry figure with white eyes and a Dark Moon piece inside him.

Luigi's eyes bulged. He yelled to everyone in front of him. "The Harsh Possessor is behind us! RUN!"

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Next week, another boss battle will embark: Luigi vs. the Harsh Possessor. But this time, he will have his friends to help him out in this fight. Can they avoid getting caught and recover the Dark Moon piece? Stay tuned for Ch. 28!_

 _Thanks for reading as always! Be sure to catch up on future updates by following the story and favorite if you enjoy it so far! Please review to let me know how I did! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Barrel Cannon Canyon is the fifth level in_ _DKC_ _. I wanted to implement that traditional barrel cannons as they are one of my favorite items to use. The irony in this is that I've used them in the Subspace Emissary story mode of_ _Super Smash Bros. Brawl_ _, but not in a single DK game._


	29. Ch 28: A Tree-mendously, Harsh Battle

_A/N: Jesus, I need to get better at proofreading my work. Last time I read Ch. 27, I used the word 'guys' no less than **18** times in that chapter alone. So I went back and edited that document. Basically, I got to stop repeating words like that, but it's probably going to happen again. Hopefully this one is better considering Luigi will be facing off against another Possessor. If not, I need help.  
_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Still don't own Mario and Sonic, just the plot and my OCs only_ _._

* * *

 **Chapter 28** : A Tree-mendously, Harsh Battle

Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong led the gang further into the bottom of the mines as the Harsh Possessor pursued them. They came to a stop when they reached a cracked wall with no other paths to take.

"What the?! You led us all the way to a dead end?!" yelled Sonic.

"Hold your horses, hedgehog!" DK retorted. "This is a secret exit to get back to our home!"

"The switch should be right around here somewhere," Diddy patted the wall.

Luigi looked behind again to see the furious scowl of the white ghost. "Hurry! He's coming!"

"You sure there's a way to get us out of here? Because it doesn't look like it!" Mario panicked.

"Ah-ha!" The chimp pressed a concave button and a hidden door opened as the sunlight came through the large aperture.

"How is that even possible?" questioned Tails.

"No time to explain! Let's get out now!" DK demanded.

He led the pack with Diddy following behind. Mario, Luigi, Colombo, Sonic, Tails, and Amy went after them and began running through the dense jungle, swiftly passing the trees, jumping over rocks, and ducking under branches. The Harsh Possessor turned invisible to easily evade the same obstacles and charged up his speed by using the Dark Moon's powers.

"Where do we go from here?" Amy called to the others.

"We need to figure out how to stop that freak!" Sonic proclaimed.

"But how? All we're doing is running away from the Possessor!" Tails shouted back.

Luigi took a moment to realize what he and the others were doing, especially after the fox pointed out the obvious. They were running away, but not taking him down. Although Luigi would prefer being safe from danger, he knew that wasn't the best option in this scenario. Putting on a determined face, he slid across the grass to stop, causing some blades to fly from the ground due to his low traction.

Mario noticed that his brother wasn't next to him running. He, too, stopped his motion while the others ran ahead.

"Luigi! What are you doing?!"

The green man didn't answer as he turned around to see Harsh approaching at high speed from several hundreds of feet away. Harsh evilly smirked as he found his target standing there. He rushed even faster than before. Luigi grabbed the Poltergust hose and switched to the flashlight. He charged up the Strobulb and waited for the right moment. By the time Harsh realized that he had the Poltergust, he was too late to evade the stunning light.

The rest of the gang heard a ghostly shriek and halted, only for them to run right into each other and form a dogpile.

"Ooof! Ow!"

"Hey! Get off me!"

"You get off first!"

"Do you really have to be on top of me?"

"My legs! I can't feel them!"

"Rrrruff! Ruff!"

They all argued and struggled to get back on their feet. The animals wiped the dirt and dust off their fur. Colombo shook his body and tail to clean off his residue.

"Did you hear that?" Donkey Kong asked the group.

"I sure did! That was such a loud squeal, it was probably higher than my own octave!" exclaimed Diddy Kong.

"But where did it come from?" wondered Amy.

"Wait a minute." Sonic looked at his surroundings. All he saw were a bunch of trees encircling an empty part of the jungle and the rest of the party. But the two mustachioed men were absent. "Where's Mario and Luigi?"

"Did the Harsh Possessor take them? Or do you think they went to fight him?" Tails became worried.

"Well if my fellow mates are thinking about fighting that darn ghost figure, we might as well lend them a hand," suggested DK.

"I think so, too. He harmed us both, and who knows if he'll do the same to them!" Diddy added.

"Come on, guys! Let's head back to where we ran from and help out the Mario Bros.!" Sonic raised a fist in the air.

"But where did we come from?" Tails contemplated. "We're in the middle of the jungle and I can't tell what direction leads to."

"If only there was an easy way to tell," Amy pleaded.

Colombo started to sniff for Luigi's scent. He began searching for tracks or any indication to find his owner. And soon, he received a clue.

"Bark! Bark!"

"What is it, boy?" Sonic asked.

Colombo yipped and jumped in the air before running forward into the trees.

"He might be searching for Luigi's scent," assumed the fox. "Come on! We have to follow the Polterpup!" Everyone nodded their heads and hurried after the ghostly canine.

Meanwhile, Luigi was sucking up Harsh into his vacuum, trying to remove his first layer of skin. Mario was shocked to see his brother step up and attack the Possessor. He was more impressed with the fact that he's fighting him off before the ghost could even possess anything.

"Go, Luigi, go! You can do it!" he cheered.

"Urgh! Almost have him…" Luigi resisted.

Sonic and the others finally caught up to Colombo who stopped behind Mario. They barely caught a glimpse of Luigi fighting the Harsh Possessor, who was currently struggling against the 6000's suction power.

"Whoa, I didn't expect this!"

Mario turned around and saw his friends. "I'm surprised myself. When we were running, he just suddenly stopped and stunned Harsh with his flashlight."

Soon, Luigi sucked up the white layer as Harsh became weaker with his orange skin. The ghost went to desperate measures as he conjured up his plan. The trees started to rumble and quiver around everybody. The ground shook violently as if an earth tremor struck the jungle.

"H-hey! What's going on?!" shouted Tails.

"I don't know! But it d-doesn't sound good at all!" Sonic tried to keep balance.

The Harsh Possessor took possession of one of the trees and used his dark powers to break more off the ground to construct a massive figure. It was a twenty-foot tall tree monster made of wooden stalks, shrubs, leaves, and vines. **_(1)_**

Diddy Kong was aghast. "Holy mackerel! I've never seen anything like this at all!"

His ape partner, however, was infuriated. "So, he thinks he can just wreck our wildlife by taking control of the trees and destroying them?"

"Not to mention that he built a freaking mammoth out of it?!" yelled Sonic.

"Like hell he's going to get away with this!"

Luigi quickly pulled out two Fire Flowers from his pocket. He absorbed one of them. "Mario, catch!" He threw the other power-up to his brother and began taking charge of the game plan. "Here's what we should do. Mario and I will pelt the tree legs with fire. Amy, summon your hammer and attack the creature's feet. Donkey Kong and Diddy, both of you swing up to the arms and chest. Sonic and Tails, you two fly up and try to hit him in the head. Colombo, start loosening as many vines as you can. Once he is stalled, we can all grab those and pull them tightly against its stature. With enough force, we can compel the Possessor out of the body!" **_(2)_**

Everyone just stared at him and blinked their eyes in amazement.

"What?"

"Well, we didn't expect you to come up with such a well thought out plan," Tails complimented.

"Let alone, you came up with a plan that quickly," added Amy.

Mario engrossed the fire powers and his clothes changed color. "I'm impressed too, but we're getting distracted from the task at hand right now. Just do what Luigi told you, because here he comes!"

The plumber pointed up to warn the group that the Possessor was about to squash them. They barely dodged the impending foot, but they were shaken by the impact. The primates climbed up the legs before the Mario Bros. began their turn to strike. The pink hedgehog brought out her mallet and ran towards the feet. Tails grabbed Sonic's hands and twirled his appendages for liftoff. Colombo became invisible and dashed forward to complete his mission.

The Harsh Possessor was clueless on who to take on first since the gang split up and aimed for different parts of the large body.

Donkey Kong clambered up the stomach and used his mighty hands and strength to punch the chest. "HROOO! This is for shooting tranquilizers at me and my buddy!" He knocked out some lumber above the abdomen.

Diddy took advantage of a loose vine to swing from the stomach to on top of his right arm. From there, he took out his peanut gun and shot his ammunition to damage the shoulder limb. At the same time, it tried to swing at him with his left arm, but the chimp pulled out his barrel jet pack to evade it.

"Ha! You missed me, fool!" He shot out another peanut towards the other shoulder, causing the creature to growl.

Amy gripped her weapon tightly with both hands and aimed for the right big toe. "HIIIII-YAAAAAAAAH!" She slammed it so hard that the Possessor let out a loud shriek from the monster's mouth. "That's for taking me away from my hero!" She whipped the hammer in the middle of the foot the second time.

Mario and Luigi spawned red and green flames from their gloves as they continuously burned the boss's inferior.

"Keep it up, Luigi!" Mario yelled as he shot some fireballs to the left leg.

"I have plenty more where it comes from, Mario!" Luigi shouted as he spawned green fire to the right.

Tails carried Sonic in front of the behemoth's head. His face saw their determined looks, eager to take him down.

"Sonic, let's home attack it repeatedly! That could make the Possessor feel off-balanced!"

"I'm right on it, buddy!"

Tails started swing his arms to give Sonic momentum. Once he did, he threw the hedgehog forward. Sonic curled up into a ball while his fox friend copied his move. They both landed hits on the forehead, the eyes, and the mouth while dodging punch attacks from the colossal tree hands. Tails noticed some heavy breathing coming from the oral orifice. He also looked down to see plenty of vines hanging loose from the superior portion of his physique.

"Luigi! I think Harsh is feeling fatigued!"

"Okay! Just keep it up until Colombo gets the vines ready!"

The Polterpup managed to loosen more near the legs after taking care of the waist up. He reappeared near the green man.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo barked.

He nodded at his message. "Everyone! Grab a vine, quick!"

They stopped their physical attacks. Luigi, Mario, Colombo and Amy grasped the vines from the legs. DK and Diddy grabbed some attached around the arms. Sonic and Tails took two more near the neck.

"Pull!"

The group of eight used all their might to yank the vines. Seconds later, the Harsh Possessor groaned in pain as he exited from the mouth and landed on the grass. The monster's body was now inert as it stood on its own. Luigi commanded Tails, Sonic, DK, and Diddy to deal more damage to the structure so that he'll have difficulty operating the body later. He told the others to elude Harsh, considering they were the most vulnerable. All of them nodded at him. The quartet from the upper half released their vines to punch, spin dash, and shoot peanuts all over the lifeless figure. The remaining members got into fighting stances. They watched Harsh build up a force field and started to dash into them. Colombo turned invisible while Mario and Luigi ducked and rolled away. When he was charging for Amy, she swung her hammer to hit the force field. Luckily, it bashed Harsh so badly that he crashed into the right leg and the barrier disappeared.

"Nice hit, Amy!"

"Thanks, Mario! Now go get him, Luigi!"

He nodded and charged his Strobulb. Using full blast, Harsh was easily stunned and started to get sucked up. Luigi managed to get rid of the orange layer, leaving him with a weak red color. The Possessor shook his head and regained control of the monster. The four who were debilitating the body held on tight as it roared loudly throughout the wild jungle. Everyone didn't need another explanation on what they should do. They repeated their actions: DK punched with his fists, Diddy fired tons of peanuts, Sonic and Tails spin dashed, Amy smashed her hammer, Mario and Luigi spammed fireballs, and Colombo let more vines loose. All of that while dodging the giant's attacks.

"He's getting weaker by the second!" Diddy screeched.

"Come on, we almost got him!" Sonic yelled excitedly.

"Bark! Bark!"

"Colombo's finished! You know what to do!" called Luigi.

The heroes clutched their vines and pulled very hard. Harsh groaned in more pain and landed on the ground once more. Diddy, DK, Sonic and Tails continued hitting the body in case Harsh repossessed the beast. Amy, Colombo, Mario and Luigi dodged the ghost sprinting into them. At one point, Luigi used a Shriek Shield when he aimed at him. Harsh bumped into the barrier and the ghost catcher took advantage. He stunned the Possessor again and went full power on the Poltergust. In a few seconds, Harsh lost his battle and was trapped in the vacuum. It started to shake until the Dark Moon piece flew out of the nozzle. Luigi fell backwards, but got up with help from his red partner. Both of their clothes reverted to their normal appearances.

"Luigi! You did it again!" he patted his younger brother's back.

"Thanks, Mario. But, I couldn't have done it without help from our friends," he mentioned as the gang reunited into a circle around the corrupted purple fragment.

"Well, we wouldn't have known what to do if you didn't come up with an awesome plan," Sonic smiled. "That was one of the best fights I've taken a part of!"

"Same here, pal. I haven't had a good punching in quite some time!" boasted DK.

"And thanks again for helping us escape out of the mines!" Diddy gratified.

"Yeah, it was pretty musty and gross in that prison cell," said Amy.

"You're welcome, guys." Luigi crouched and picked up the Dark Moon fragment. It was the third one overall, which meant half of the moon has been found. But like the first two, it needed to be restored with E. Gadd's Energy Suppressor.

Just then, a familiar jingle played from Luigi's 3DS.

"I wonder how the Professor calls you at the most convenient time possible," Tails tilted his head.

"Even I don't know how he does it," Luigi said before opening his communicator. "Yello?"

The professor popped up on the top screen. "Luigi, my boy! How goes the ghost catching?"

"Very well, actually. My friends and I found Harsh and got another piece of the Dark Moon!"

"Excellent work, Luigi and company! Now, take that the chunk back to my lab in a jiffy. I'll just actuate my Pixelator real quick…"

"Um, excuse me, Professor," Mario interrupted. "But we actually came here via Peach's helicopter and we need to return it back to the castle helipad. So we can't use the Pixelator right now."

"Plus, I don't want to get stuck Edge's limbo state of darkness again."

"Oh, is that so? Well, I can't blame you for that, Luigi. And if you did use a helicopter, I guess you can fly on over to Boo Woods with it. I'll call the princess to tell them that you'll be returning it much later than necessary."

"We appreciate that," thanked Mario.

"Alright, it's settled! See you back at the lab!"

Professor E. Gadd went off-screen and Luigi put away his device. Then, the group heard the tree monster disassembled into a gargantuan pile of broken, burnt trees.

" _Sigh_ , well… at least it's done for. But I'm not gonna be happy cleaning this up," groaned the spider monkey.

"Maybe we can hire a deforestation crew to clean up this mess," Mario suggested.

"As long as they don't tear apart all the trees and our home," cautioned DK.

"I'll be sure to tell them that specifically. But for now, let's head back."

They all nodded and followed the ape and chimp as they knew their way around the jungle. Eventually, they returned to DK's treehouse with the Mushroom Copter nearby.

"Well, I guess this is farewell for now," said Diddy Kong.

"I suppose so, but don't think that we won't see you again!" Sonic winked.

"I'm just glad we're back home. And thanks for the help back there," DK gave them a thumbs-up.

"No problem, DK. We're relieved that you two are safe from Harsh," Mario smiled.

"Bye guys!" Tails and Amy called from the helicopter.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped.

"Come on, Mario. We don't want to keep the Professor waiting."

"Right, Luigi. See you later!"

"Good luck with the rest of your journey!" shouted Diddy.

"And be sure to kick Edge's butt for us!" yelled DK.

The six boarded the Mushroom Copter while waving goodbye at the two primates. Mario and Luigi started the ignition to hover from the ground before taking off to Boo Woods. Once they left Kongo Jungle, the man in green felt proud of himself for defeating the Harsh Possessor. And even though he was the one who thought of the plan, he appreciated his friends for supporting his back.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Luigi recovered the third Dark Moon piece and is set for E. Gadd's lab to restore it. DK and Diddy made it back to their home safely with the help of the heroes. And overall, this was a fun chapter to write because of the boss fight. I hope you enjoyed it!_

 _Thanks for reading as always! Please review to let me know how I did, follow/favorite if you want to catch up on future updates, and I'll see you guys for Ch. 29 of Hidden Bravery! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I'm not good at explaining this boss set-up, but if you want to draw up a comparison, think of it as one of those tree house robots from Phineas and Ferb. Yeah, pretty weird coming from a childhood show of mine, but it's the closest I can think of._

 ** _(2):_** _I wanted to juxtapose the vines as tassels, those pieces of hanging fabric that Luigi pulled to reveal hidden passages of the mansions or, most notably, force Harsh out of the staircase he possessed in the boss fight of Haunted Towers._


	30. Ch 29: One Step at a Time

_A/N:_ _Amazing! After the previous upload,_ _Hidden Bravery_ _has accumulated over_ _ **5000 hits**_ _! Thank you everyone for reading my story! It means a lot to me ever since I started writing on FFN. I also want to thank Steel Fairy, r u craZ, and Tiger of Darkness for their reviews. Once again, I appreciate the support, and I hope you enjoy this chapter of_ _HB_ _!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I do not own Mario or Sonic. They are respectively owned by Nintendo and Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 29:** One Step at a Time

 _Location: Edge's HQ_

A knock came from outside of Myster Edge's private lair. From the security camera, it caught Alpha and Clawdio standing there. The shadow figure unlocked his door to let his robot henchmen in. An irritated grunt came from him as he rotated his chair to face the two.

"Alpha. Clawdio. What business do you have to enlighten me with this time?"

Alpha stepped forward and bowed to his master. "Myster Edge, I received a distress call from one of our Greenies that the monkey prisoners have been freed by the green plumber and his friends."

Edge narrowed his eyes, forcing the robot to continue knowing that he had something else to remark.

"And, uh… I am also displeased to announce that the same guy… seized the Harsh Possessor and reclaimed the Dark Moon piece."

Clawdio shivered at the sight of Edge's glare. He and Alpha jumped when the villain smashed his scepter onto the floor, creating a loud boom.

"WHAT DID YOU SAY?!"

Alpha beeped and slowly spoke. "I said that…"

"IT WAS A RHETORICAL QUESTION, YOU IMBECILE! HOW DID THEY ESCAPE AND WIN AGAINST HIM?!"

"Again, I apologize for the bad news, sir," Alpha tried to ease the tension. "But there's still more time to fulfill your plan before you head to Star Hill."

"That's the same scenario for the past couple of days," Edge grumbled. He didn't yell that time, but his tone remained discouraged. "You see this scepter? It has the same five Emeralds in here, and I have yet to receive another one from you lazy pieces of machinery. I still haven't had a word from Slimmer, Rocco, or anyone else searching in Mobius on where the last two are. At this rate, that plumber will get those moon fragments back before I can even wreak havoc!"

"At least you have enough Dark Shards though," Clawdio spoke up for the first time. "So part of your goal has been finished."

"Shut it, Clawdio. Don't try to sugarcoat this as well. And besides, what the heck are you doing here away from your post?"

"Can I at least take a break? Standing around doing nothing in front the empty prison is literally a waste of my time."

"So is myself lounging here and waiting to get those damn Emeralds. Your point?"

"But, Myster Edge-"

"Can it, you un-handy whiner! The last time I saw you, both your claws got chewed up and were disabled. Maybe if you covered your shift efficiently, the prisoners who were held here wouldn't have escaped!"

"Hey, it's not my fault I couldn't detect invisible ghosts! Slimmer and I tried to catch the stupid pooch, but he got away. And Slimmer's clumsiness made my hands even worse! Yet you allowed him back on search duty!"

"I don't need to hear your sob story. Just return to your post, Clawdio."

Clawdio whispered an expletive to himself, directed towards Edge, but the shadow heard him bleep.

"You want to repeat that to me?"

"What? Uh, nothing sir!"

"That's what I thought. Now get out," he pointed at the door.

Clawdio shook his head and exited the headquarters. Alpha remained standing, unfazed by Edge's confrontation towards the orange mech.

"What are you going to do now, Master?"

"I interfered with him transporting during the last time. It seems less likely that will happen again. And furthermore, I consumed a lot of energy from the Chaos Emeralds to do that."

"You're still going at it with the physical abuse?"

"Don't interrupt me, Alpha."

"Sorry, sire."

"As I was saying, I'll personally deliver another round of torture the next time I come across his path. Chances are that he'll visit the Sparkling Waters next. I did send Overset to watch those prisoners."

"Okay. And what about the other Possessors?"

"Tough is still manning the large residence in Evershade, the Treacherous Mansion. As for Shrewd, I sent him to Mobius a while back." **_(1)_**

"That hedgehog's world?"

"Yes, you twit. They probably don't know at this point, but if it means for them to waste more time saving their buddies and recover the moon, it'll have to do until I get my hands on the final two Emeralds."

Afterwards, there was some awkward silence before Alpha concluded the meeting.

"Okay. Well, that's all I have to report, my liege. May I be excused?"

"Oh, yes. Carry on with your business."

Alpha bowed and left the dome hideout. Edge went back to his supercomputer and stared at a still image of Luigi on one of the monitors. On the screen to the right, there was another character there. He boasted a mischievous sneer with those lifeless, yellow and black eyes of his. Edge inhaled heavily and let out an exasperated breath.

"One day, you _will_ return next to me. I will complete what you have failed before you were dead. It just takes one step at a time…"

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

Mario, Luigi, and the rest of the party flew past the Mushroom Kingdom to arrive at Boo Woods. The sun had set by the time they arrived while the large moon was in sight in the dark blue sky. They disembarked the helicopter on the other side of the pathway across from E. Gadd's bunker. The six of them got out and walked over to the entrance. Luigi was the last to leave and locked up the doors.

"Sure is a nice night, huh, guys?" Sonic started a conversation.

"I'd say so. Nice breeze, not too warm or cold, the moon looks beautiful as always," admired Amy.

Speaking of moons, Luigi immediately pulled out the Dark Moon piece he recovered from the Harsh Possessor. He stared at it while they approached the entrance.

Mario noticed that his brother was not paying attention to where he was going. "Luigi, look up."

Luigi didn't listen and he went face first into the wall to the right of the door. "Ooh!" he rubbed his nose.

Mario sighed as he knocked on the entrance. "You didn't hear me, did you?"

"Sorry, Mario. I was caught up on something else."

"What's that, Luigi?" asked Tails.

"You know how I said that I saw a vision of DK and Diddy on the last Dark Moon piece? Well, I was considering that maybe something new might pop on this one. It could show us where our other friends are held captive."

"That is a possibility. Have you got any signs?"

"Not yet," he shook his head.

The gang heard the door unlock without getting a response from the professor. He knew just from watching his security camera. They headed inside to meet him and Zephyr, waiting in the Storage Room.

"Oh-ho! You made it back here, lads! How was your jungle adventure?"

"Fairly well, E. Gadd. We managed to rescue DK and Diddy Kong from the Monkey Mines. And they helped us escape and stop the Harsh Possessor," explained Mario.

"Did they now? How terrific of those two to contribute in a boss battle. Now tell me, out of curiosity, what did Harsh possess this time?"

"He took over a single tree and caused so many of them to form into this humongous giant! It was at least twenty feet tall!" Amy shouted, throwing her hands up.

"Extraordinary! I never would have guessed anything like that! Especially after he possessed a staircase in the Tree House high above in the Haunted Towers."

"A staircase? You must be joking. How could a set of stairs be intimidating to anyone?" sassed Sonic.

"You're telling me," Luigi groaned. "I had to walk up probably fifty sets of stairs just to get up all the way to the top and fight Harsh. And if I choose a wrong one, I get sent _all the way_ back down and fight a cheeky Greenie or whatever blocks my path."

"Oh, come on, Luigi. I fought so many robots and big machines from Egghead. Those are more threatening to take down. A possessed staircase couldn't be _that_ bad."

"And I repeat. You're telling me. I'm not as brave as you or Mario, or anyone else in this room."

Mario eyed at his brother disapprovingly. He didn't like Luigi reprimanding himself on his low self-esteem. And he was the one to even do something against Harsh when he was chasing them in Kongo Jungle. Why was he doing this to himself? That was something Mario didn't have an answer to. Not only that, but he didn't comment on it.

"Oh, that's not true, my boy. I've seen you gone through many other experiences that are as dangerous or even life threatening than what you put with recently," E. Gadd tried to cheer him up.

"Such as?" Luigi pressed on.

"Oh… Um… There was that time you…"

Luigi frowned more than before. Mario closed his eyes and shook his head. Amy and Sonic stood there, not reacting to anything. Colombo whimpered to himself. Zephyr facepalmed. Tails tried to break up the awkward conversation.

"Uh, let's just get the Harsh Possessor and all those other ghosts down into the Vault, shall we?"

"Oh, yes. You're right, Tails. Hand me the Poltergust, please."

Luigi removed the vacuum off his back and handed it to E. Gadd. He attached the charger to regenerate the shields while placing the hose into the underground tunnel. A total of twenty ghosts, including the Harsh Possessor, descended into the Vault's canister, joining the other inhabitants.

"You may have used half of your Shriek Shields on this adventure compared to your trip to Vanilla Dome," E. Gadd pointed out the number '5' on the meter. "But maybe Zephyr and I can modify the 6000 overnight to add more. Because if there are even greater dangers that await, you'll have to defend yourselves more strategically than before."

"So, what's next?"

"Just like before, Sonic. We'll need to clean off the moon piece because of its corrupted presence. Luigi, could you hand it to me?" he lifted his hand.

Again, the green man did not listen as he was gazing at the object.

"Luigi, did you hear the professor or not?" Mario shook his shoulder.

He didn't reply to his question. "Mario, I think it's happening again."

Tails seem to catch on to what Luigi's referring to. "You mean another image is appearing on the fragment?"

"I believe so. It's glowing brightly and I feel so much power coming from it."

He didn't wait long until something came up in view. Everyone huddled around Luigi who held the piece out in front of them. They glanced at a visual of an abandoned cargo ship in the middle of Sparkling Waters, where one of the Dark Moon pieces was said to be held in. It zoomed in at one of the lower portholes. They widened their eyes when they saw who was inside.

"Hey! Egghead is in there!" said Sonic.

"He's with Orbot and Cubot," added Tails.

"And Yoshi, too!" Mario shouted.

"And there's Knuckles! Man, he looks so infuriated," Amy was shocked.

"He must be banging on that door for who knows how long. And by the looks of it, they can't escape. That's the knucklehead we know, alright," Sonic sighed, shaking his head.

"Based off this, we should go to Sparkling Waters next," deduced Luigi.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, WHOA… You said what now?"

Luigi turned to Sonic. "I said we should go to Sparkling Waters next." Then he realized what he said. "Oh…"

"Yeah, thanks, but no thanks. Since that involves going near a huge body of water, I'm not going to be part of _that_ journey," Sonic narrowed his eyes and crossed his arms.

"Sonic, if this Dark Moon piece is foreshadowing something, then we got to head there next," Mario tried to reason with the stubborn hedgehog.

"Well why can't go find the one in that mansion in Evershade? Or another one at least?"

E. Gadd shifted his glasses before explaining. "There are three more parts left. One in Sparkling Waters, one in Evershade, and I still haven't found the last location. But as for the Treacherous Mansion, it's obscured by the thick, purple fog. All of that came from the Dark Moon being broken by Myster Edge. And it only goes away with every Dark Moon piece restored from its negative energy."

"But why can't we go there?" he grumbled.

"If my memory of the previous quest serves me right, that large residence is only accessible if the fog goes away when five Dark Moon pieces are reinstated. This would be our third, but that would only open up the Old Clockworks, the third area Luigi trekked through. ** _(2)_** And you would need to find the missing one, even if it could take forever for you to search for it."

Sonic threw his hands up in frustration. "Aargh! This is bullshit!"

"Sonic, that's enough," warned Mario. "If you don't want to join us, you can stay behind with Princess Peach and the others in the castle. Or you can go on your own to find the other piece that's not in Evershade. But just saying, you'd probably be on your own. And if Edge or his minions catch you, they might steal your Chaos Emerald."

"Speaking of which, I think I want to join them. I would like to ask Peach if she knows a good spa around here. I could use a break after that big fight. So, I might not join you guys on the next journey," replied Amy.

"If that's what you prefer, Amy, we won't stop you."

"Oh, so you're gonna give her a free pass and not me?!"

"Sonic, I'm sure you'll be fine," Amy rolled her eyes. "Besides, Mario and the others will be with you."

"That's what you say, but I am NOT going near water whatsoever!"

She let out a small breath. "Fine. We're gonna have to do this the hard way."

"What hard way?"

Luigi got his question answered when Amy revealed her Piko Piko Hammer. Everyone sweat dropped and backed away from the pink hedgehog, including Sonic with an agitated look on his muzzle.

"Yeah, I'm gonna…" He didn't finish his sentence and dashed out of the lab.

"SONIC, YOU GET BACK HERE!" she waved her hammer angrily.

"Ugh, there they go again. This always happens between the two," muttered Tails.

"And usually Amy wins this fight, hands-down," sighed Mario.

"So, about that Dark Moon piece?" E. Gadd mentioned.

"Oh. Sorry, Professor." Luigi handed him the fragment.

"Thanks, sonny. Zephyr, if you would, please."

The Greenie nodded and brought up the Energy Suppressor. The old man placed the piece on the turntable and let the machine do its work. Mario, Luigi, Tails, and Colombo watched in awe until the object shined brightly from the cleanup. By then, the fog that hovered over the Old Clockworks in Evershade Valley vanished. Three of the mansions were now in view, while the rest were still concealed. Zephyr turned off the machine, returning it underneath the floor panel. The fragment was immediately transported to the Vault's safe, joining the first two they recovered.

"That's half of the Dark Moon pieces now. I can't believe how far we've come from all this," Luigi contemplated with disbelief.

"And all that's left is to retrieve the remaining ones from the other Possessors," E. Gadd chuckled.

"But there's also Edge and the other Emeralds as well. We can't let him get the two we have. And we have to rescue our friends, too. By the way, do you know if Blaze, Rouge, or anyone else who have found any hints on the others missing?" Mario directed at Tails.

"I almost forgot about them until you told me," he replied honestly. "Maybe I should give them a call. I'll be back in a minute." Tails left to speak in private, leaving the brothers, the scientist, and the ghosts remaining in the Storage Room.

"So how you boys feeling right now?" E. Gadd asked for assurance.

"I'm a bit famished." Mario took a Mushroom out of his pocket and consumed it. "Ah, that feels much better," he patted his stomach.

Luigi playfully rolled his eyes. "I'm just a bit tired, that's all. We might as well head on home soon. We got another long day ahead of us."

"You guys sure do. But despite how dire the situation is, I'm confident you will stop him from destroying the worlds. It just takes one step at a time."

 _"One step at a time…"_ Luigi repeated in his head.

"I guess we'll see you in the morning tomorrow. Come on, Luigi. We got to get the others and return the helicopter to the castle."

"Okay, Mario. See you, Professor. Bye, Zephyr."

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped goodbye.

"Sleep well, youngsters!"

The three exited the lab and found Tails standing outside of the bunker.

"Oh, hey guys. I'm ready to go."

"Where's Sonic and Amy?" Luigi asked.

Tails sighed and pointed the two in the woods, Sonic running for his life and Amy following him on a blazing rampage.

"So, how about Blaze and the others?" Mario changed the subject.

"They're still back home on Mobius. They didn't have any luck on finding Shadow, Silver, or the Chaotix, unfortunately. Thankfully, they weren't captured by any of Edge's robots wandering around our home."

"How exactly did they get back there without the use of a Chaos Emerald anyway?" Luigi wondered.

"I bet Toadsworth loaned them a Power Star for the warp pipe when they returned to the castle last night," surmised Mario.

"Oh, yeah. That would make sense."

"Hey! Sonic, Amy!" Tails yelled at them.

"What, Tails?! If you can't tell, I'm still being chased by her, but in a very bad way!"

"Since when have the other times she chased him were considered 'not bad'?" whispered Mario.

Tails didn't bother to answer that. "Guys, we need to get back home! Can you stop wasting time?"

Sonic skidded to a stop, only for Amy to run into him and caused them to fall.

"OW!"

Mario, Luigi, and Colombo all cringed at the collision. Tails ran a hand through his bangs and groaned. He walked over to them and helped them back on their feet. They dusted themselves off and Amy put away her hammer.

"Sometimes you two are ridiculous," said the golden fox.

"Sonic, I told you before that you don't have to join us in Sparkling Waters," Mario reminded him.

"You know what? I've made my decision already. If Amy's staying at the castle tomorrow, I better go with you guys."

"What's that supposed to mean?!" Amy snapped, summoning her weapon again.

"Amy, enough!" Tails pulled her back before she could strike Sonic, who was shielding his head with his hands.

"Okay, just to get things clear, Amy, you can stay with Peach, Daisy, and the Toads at the castle tomorrow if that's what you want. The rest of us will return here tomorrow morning so Luigi can pick up his Poltergust. Then, we'll set off for Sparkling Waters. Is everyone okay with that?"

Luigi, Tails, and Colombo agreed on Mario's clarification. Eventually, the hedgehogs concurred, Sonic reluctantly nodding his head.

"So it's settled. Now let's get the Mushroom Copter back to the castle. And then we can get a good night's sleep."

The six of them walked over to the chopper. Luigi yawned and stretched his arms, but at that time, he thought he heard some rustling in the bushes. He stopped to look behind.

 _"Is someone over there? Or am I delusional?"_

"Luigi, come on!" Mario called him.

He shrugged and went inside the vehicle. They flew and left the spooky forest. Once they were out of sight, a figure popped out of the shrubs.

"Phew, that was close. I almost got caught," he murmured to himself. He then contacted someone on his communicator. "Duplicit. Progress report."

"Hey, Duplimore. I scoped out the Treacherous Mansion. Tons of ghouls here as usual. And all I see are dark, purple clouds outside. You can't even see the sky from here," he commented while looking out the front window. "How about you?"

"The green guy and his allies have left the vicinity. I presume they recovered another Dark Moon piece."

"You think so?"

"I'm almost positive on it."

"Alright then. Anything else to know?"

"Not yet. Actually, I retract my statement. They said they're heading to the Sparkling Waters tomorrow. So they still won't reach the Treacherous Mansion just yet."

"I see. Well, I guess I'll continuing searching around here. I'll also report that to the boss."

"Gotcha. I'll contact you again if I uncover anything else."

"Roger. Talk to you later."

Duplimore hung up the call and stared at the large, white moon above Boo Woods.

"It's all coming together, at least. Just one step at a time…"

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Pretty cheesy to use the same line in three different scenarios, but there has been some important activity and questions to answer._

 _For Myster Edge, he's enraged by the fact that Luigi and his friends have stopped the Harsh Possessor. Not only that, but he was staring at a picture of someone who died, and his goal is for that character to 'return'. Who is he talking about?_

 _For the heroes, they will set out to Sparkling Waters as their next destination, much to Sonic's discontent. If there's any good news out of this, half of the Dark Moon is recovered and Luigi didn't get harmed by Edge this time. But the villain plans to seek his revenge. How will things turn out in the water world?_

 _And for the mysterious duo of Duplimore and Duplicit, they have some type of scheme stirring up, but you guys don't what it is. What are your theories on these characters' roles?_

 _As always, thanks for reading! Be sure to review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys in Ch. 30! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Remember how Professor E. Gadd only discovered four of the five missing Dark Moon fragments back in Ch. 18? Well, Myster Edge revealed the missing location which happens to be in Sonic's world. Where exactly won't be told just yet; nonetheless, our heroes won't know this until later._

 ** _(2):_** _In_ _Dark Moon_ _, the fog disappears after a piece has been cleaned off. But going off from that game, it took five recovered fragments to uncover and access the final mansion. For that reason, the Treacherous Mansion will be the last region the heroes will travel to ultimately rebuild the Dark Moon._


	31. Ch 30: What Does it Mean?

_A/N:_ _Almost fell behind after spending a lot of time with my Nintendo Switch. I'm loving it already! But for now, here's another chapter of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Been the same since the prologue: I still don't own anything but the story plot._

* * *

 **Chapter 30:** What Does it Mean?

 _Location: Mario & Luigi's House_

That night, the Mario Bros. landed the helicopter and returned to Peach's Castle. After a busy day, the Mushroom Princess decided to reward everyone with some dinner and cake. Once everyone was finished, Sonic, Tails, and Amy departed for Mobius to meet with Blaze, Rouge, Cream, and Cheese, as well as to get some well-deserved rest. The two mustached heroes and the Polterpup then retreated to their home after giving their farewells to Peach. By the time they got home, they changed into their pajamas and went to the bathroom to brush their teeth. Colombo already made himself comfortable by jumping into the green clad man's bed.

As soon as Luigi was finished, he gargled his mouth and turned to Mario who was standing in front of the left vanity sink.

"Do you think Yoshi and the others are going to be okay?"

Mario spit out his toothpaste before answering. "As much as I hate to worry about our dino friend, I'm sure he's okay. Knuckles and Eggman, on the other hand, you know how Sonic describes both of them as short-tempered. I mean, did you see how red they were?"

"Well, yeah. Knuckles _is_ red, after all. And Eggman wears red, too."

Mario rolled his eyes. "Very funny. But seriously, they must have been stuck in that creepy ship."

"Wasn't that the Haunted Shipwreck we infiltrated?" **_(1)_**

"It looked like that one. I don't know any other ships we found during our adventure in Sparkling Waters."

Luigi gulped and shuddered. "If so, we're going have to go back to swimming again. I've already had enough back in Vanilla Dome."

"Oh, come on, Weege. Swimming's not that bad."

"It is if you're Sonic or myself."

"I'm sure we can ask the princess to let him borrow a life jacket, unless he's going to bring his blue one he used in the Olympics. And I'm not that worried for his sake. It's the fact that he's uncomfortable and not willing to swim. As for you, you're decent enough."

"I guess the main concern are those… Boos. Man, I hate those ghosts so much!"

"Hey, just be grateful that we haven't ran into a single one every time we visit Boo Woods. And why are you making a big deal out of them if you're catching ghosts in the first place?"

"It's not the Greenies, Slammers, and the rest of the Evershade ghosts I'm afraid of. It's my crippling fear of Boos that make me terrified, especially after the first mansion adventure."

" _Sigh_ , I guess so. But no matter what happens, I'll always be there for you, Luigi," Mario gave him a reassuring smile.

"Thanks, Mario," he grinned back.

The two exited the bathroom and went in opposite directions to their separate bedrooms.

"Good night, Luigi," Mario yawned.

"Good night, Mario," Luigi replied.

They closed their doors and got into their covers as they drifted off to dream land. However, one of them was about to experience a nightmare to forget.

* * *

The sky was a sea of blood red, covered by dark, thick clouds that whirled around in circular motion. And in the middle of it, a small, ominous hole of purple and black was floating there. It didn't have the strength to pull in nearby objects like the black holes found in the galaxies, but it was as menacing as the Void that could obliterate a single dimension. This was the Oblivion. And as time passed by, it started to grow. Slowly but surely, the end of all worlds was imminent.

Down in the area below, someone stood on a lonely hill as he witnessed another act of destruction. In the heart of the Mushroom Kingdom, the city of Toad Town was wrecked. Tons of Toads panicked with fear as they fled for safety. Lightning struck more areas while the citizens tripped on the ground. It was utter chaos that befell the kingdom once again. The man had seen enough and ran down to step into action.

He reached the square where most of the collateral damage took place. He inspected his surroundings: broken, shattered glass windows and fallen debris from the buildings, uneven potholes on the concrete paths, burnt patches of flowers and grass, the destroyed spires on Peach's Castle; there was too much chaos going on.

And the source of all of it was floating high, his back facing towards the man as he admired the spectacle of the Oblivion.

"Hmm hmm hmm…" he snickered to himself. "Ah, what a perfect way to start the end of this pathetic, little world." He turned around to face the man who angrily scowled at him. "My plan is almost complete. With the seven Chaos Emeralds in my possession, and all the ghosts and robots by my side, I am the most powerful living being in existence! And once I get rid of every disgusting world for good, I shall construct a new empire to my liking. What's best about it is that _you_ won't be here to interfere with me."

"Why?" he muttered. "Why are you doing this?!"

"It's simple to explain. In fact, I already did."

"And where are my friends?!" he shouted.

"Oh, you mean… these people?"

The villain waved his magical scepter around to reveal everyone: his brother, the princesses, the Toads, and his animal friends from the other world. They were trapped inside a large, purple bubble.

"Luigi!" Mario called out.

"Mario! Peach! Daisy! Everyone!"

"I had a feeling you care about them so much. You would want them to be safe, don't you? Because that's the kind of person you are."

"What the hell are you trying to get at, you jerk?" Sonic jeered with his hands against the impenetrable wall.

"I'll give you a choice, Luigi. I'll spare your friends and let them live. That is until the Oblivion sucks them up to nonexistence. All you have to do is surrender and become my permanent slave."

"What?!" the green clad man yelled in shock.

"Don't do it, Luigi!" Daisy begged him.

"If you don't fall under my rule, I'll personally let you witness me strangle each and every individual in this bubble to death with my immense power. You don't want me to cross that line, now do you?"

"N-no…" Luigi stuttered.

"Then I suggest you commit to the former. Join my side, and they will survive for now."

"Luigi, don't listen to him! Don't let your guard down that easily! He's going to abuse you again and I don't want that to happen!" Mario pleaded.

"But I don't want to see you guys dead, especially if it's my fault!" Luigi started to let out some hot tears.

"Luigi, it's not your fault in the first place!" cried Tails.

"Yes is it! You guys are captured and I didn't do anything to stop that from happening, lest the kingdom from being ruined. And whatever I choose, you guys will have to suffer for it! And that's not fair! I'd rather die than to let that happen!"

"Luigi, don't say that!" worried Peach.

"Your choice, Green 'Stache. Become my slave, or lose your friends. Which will it be?"

Myster Edge gave Luigi an insidious, evil grin as he stared heavily at the green hero. Luigi bit his lip as he was torn to either watch everyone he knew perish in a quick second, or force himself to work for the enemy.

 _"Why me? Why me of all people?"_ he whined to himself.

"I don't have all day, you fool. Make a decision, NOW!"

Luigi glared at Edge for a second. He shut his eyes tightly as more tears flowed down his cheeks. He curled his hands into fists and exhaled deeply.

"Let them go…" he spoke softly at first. He raised his voice when he repeated his statement. "Let them go, and promise you won't harm them anymore."

"Luigi, no!" Mario smashed his fist on the barrier.

Edge chortled maliciously. "That's all I wanted anyway."

Edge released everyone from the temporary prison as they fell onto the ground. Before anyone could make a move or even get up, Edge struck a lightning orb to Luigi's chest. He screamed internally as he dealt with the familiar sensation of being shocked by the shadow figure. Not a single yelp or cry escaped his mouth as he decided to be punished. When Mario caught a glimpse of this torture, he got up from his feet and ran towards his younger brother. But Edge flew down to block his path. His scepter was held behind him, aiming at Luigi who was continually stunned.

"You do anything to help him, and I will end your life sooner rather than later," he threatened.

Sonic jumped up to defend Mario. "Hey! Don't even think about killing him or Luigi!"

Tails hopped in and stood on the red man's left. "Why do you want to hurt Luigi so badly? Why do you want him as your subject, you sick bastard?!"

"There's someone out there that I'm trying to bring back. He is the key to complete this action."

"Bring back? Like from the dead?" grunted Mario.

"Exactly. He would look great by my side, especially when I use his soul to resurrect _him_."

The three widened their eyes in surprise and anger.

"Resurrect?! You're going to sacrifice Luigi to bring someone back to life?!" bellowed Sonic.

"And who are you planning on reviving?" asked Tails.

"Let's just say he's very, _very_ familiar with you, Mr. Red Hat."

"Me?" Mario raised an eyebrow.

"And he's also related to your pathetic brother."

His face became red. "Don't call my brother pathetic. And who the hell are you talking about?"

"That's a secret to me, and me only," he sneered.

This made Mario more infuriated. He had to be held back by Sonic and Tails. "Listen here, Myster Edge. I swear to God, if you do _anything_ to Luigi, I will-"

"Just be lucky and grateful that this son of a bitch is willing to prevent you and your wimpy friends from dying early," Edge interrupted rudely. "Now if you'll excuse me…"

Edge walked away from the trio as Mario growled with ferocity. He started to leak out a tear, unable to take in what just happened. The villain finally stopped the pain he instigated to Luigi. The green plumber collapsed into unconsciousness as he laid on the ground.

"Luigi!" Daisy cried in anguish.

The purple shadow levitated him with his scepter. Luigi remained unfazed from this.

"I hope you enjoy your last moments before the Oblivion consumes you all! And you can experience it without your green friend! HAHAHAHA!"

Edge waved his staff once more to teleport himself and his new slave away, leaving the remaining others to stand in silence, awe, and hurt. Mario was the most affected as he wished what he just saw didn't happen. But it did, and he was left to face the reality that his brother had left him and everyone else so that they wouldn't decease.

"Luigi…" he stifled a sob as he fell onto his knees. Sonic and Tails looked at him sympathetically. Colombo walked up to him slowly and nudged his head in his lap. The rest of the group was in utter distress as they didn't know what to do.

* * *

Meanwhile, Edge transported into the Oblivion and he was now all alone with the one he desired. He dropped Luigi onto the dark, cold floor.

"Wake up," he ordered.

Luigi didn't budge at all.

"I said, WAKE UP!"

He shot another lightning orb at him.

"YAAHHH!" he woke up from the intense pain.

"Get the hell up, Greenie."

The man's hands, arms, and legs were shaking vigorously as he struggled to stand up.

"GET UP NOW!"

"I-I'm g-getting up… n-now!" he stammered.

"Finally. Now you're all mine."

"W-what do you want from me?"

"Are you trying to tell me that you didn't even hear a single word I mentioned to your little buddies?"

Luigi glowered. "You were paralyzing me with your damn lightning attacks!"

"Pfft. Guess I'm gonna have to repeat it again since you're a horrible listener. I just wanted you to join my side for personal reasons. You're the best vessel for the resurrection I plan to perpetrate."

"Wait… You're going to use my body to bring someone back alive?!"

"Now you get the big picture, you worthless worm!"

To say Luigi was more offended than frightened was an understatement. His mind was focused on the rebirth of an individual. It reminded him of the story Mario told him when a thousand-year old demon's soul possessed the body of Princess Peach to be revitalized as the malignant Shadow Queen. **_(2)_** The question is, _who_ exactly is Edge seeking to resuscitate?

"Now, I just have to do one small action. Don't even think about running because you don't have anything to help. And besides, I'll just restrain you regardless."

Luigi couldn't help but swallow some fear down his throat.

"Don't worry, this won't hurt as much as my lightning attacks."

 _"That's what you say,"_ he mumbled in his head.

By then, Edge shot a laser from his staff using the powers of the seven Chaos Emeralds. It hit Luigi, but it didn't hurt. Well, at first it didn't.

"Huh?! Ack!"

He gasped and felt a strong sensation. He felt his insides tingle, but he couldn't feel his arms or legs to move or withstand the agony. It hurt so badly he felt like his body was going to implode. Soon, a shining, gray article started to emerge from his torso. Luigi began to dry heave the moment a part of it came out into view. Edge beamed sinisterly at the sight of this object while, at the same time, spectated the physical image of the green clothed Italian suffering again. Once it flew out of Luigi's chest, his body became numb once again and fell onto his knees, his hands clutching over his heart as he wheezed heavily.

"What… was… that?!"

Edge didn't answer as he summoned the item to his reach. He let it float above his left hand as he still held his staff in his right. Luigi eventually caught his breath before realizing what was in front of him. His eyes enlarged in fright, shock, and disbelief.

"W-WHAT?! Is that…?!"

Edge interrupted the green man as he began to chant:

"Bring this entity back to life.

Summon the shadow within this light.

Take this soul, be revived, you shall,

To stand by my side, this I vow!"

A stunning, white light glistened intensely from the gray object. It was so bright Luigi he had to shield his eyes with his hands. Not apprehending what was happening, a floating figure appeared, making Edge smirk.

"Welcome back. It's good to see you again after so long."

The entity turned to the Shadow Spirit, copying his look. "The feeling is mutual, Edge. I am grateful to see you, too."

That voice. Luigi instantly recognized the dark, evil tone. When he removed his hands from his face, his eyes widened yet again. His jaw started to twitch at the sight of him, as for he was at a loss for words. But he did say two of them.

"I-I-I-It's… YOU!"

The figure turned around to give Luigi a disparaging smile. "Ah, Luigi. It's good to see you again."

"B-but…"

Edge didn't let Luigi get another word out of edgewise. "Now then, take over this being! For you shall control his body to rule by my side!"

"NO!" he cried out.

"YES! Now go!" he retorted.

"As you wish, my dark friend," said the entity.

The entity zipped right at him at such a speed Luigi couldn't do anything to budge or dodge his impending fate. All he could do was scream.

"AAAAHHHH!"

* * *

"Luigi! Luigi! Luigi, wake up!"

"Wah! Huh?!"

The younger brother was shaken as he sat up quickly in bed, startled by the nightmare.

"Luigi, I heard you screaming in your sleep when I was awake. Are you okay?"

He looked at his brother who was already in his day clothes, except this time he was sporting a red t-shirt with short sleeves rather than long ones. He also saw Colombo with his head tilted, wondering what was wrong with his owner since he was woken by him. Luigi took off his nightcap and ran his bare hand through his hair.

"I'm sorry, Mario. I didn't mean to disturb you."

"You didn't, Weege. I was going to wake you up to get ready and eat breakfast. But before I could even go upstairs to do that, I heard noises in your room, and I got worried. Do you want to talk about it?"

Luigi felt unsure to speak. What was he about to say? Everything he remembered just to make his brother more concerned than he is right now? Should he keep it to himself instead? He didn't know what to say or think.

"It's… it's nothing," he denied. "Can I just take some time to shower please?"

Mario frowned when his sibling refused to explain his problem. He had a brotherly instinct that something was up. He just didn't know what and Luigi wasn't making it any better. Nonetheless, he didn't want to further upset him.

"Um, I guess so. I checked this weather this morning. It's supposed to be hot and humid in Sparkling Waters, so that's why I chose short sleeves for today. I suggest you do the same. And when you're done, breakfast is ready downstairs in the kitchen."

"Okay. Thanks, Mario."

He rubbed Luigi's shoulder before turning to the door. "Come on, Colombo. I got your food ready for you."

The Polterpup jumped off the bed and followed the red clad man. Before he left the room though, he looked back at Luigi who was going through his dresser. He whimpered softly as he walked out.

For Luigi, he got his towel and clothes in his hands and headed for the bathroom. After removing his pajamas, he stepped in the shower. But when he turned on the water, he didn't wash his hair or body. He just stood there, aimlessly looking at nothing without saying a word or moving a muscle. His mind reverted to the haunting scene that played in his mind that night. It was a nightmare, alright. But it terrified him to think of the possibility it could be a sign of foreshadowing. If it is, then that led to several questions.

 _"What does it mean? Is this part of Edge's plan? And how does he know_ _ **him**_ _?"_

He continued to ponder with dread as the hot water streamed down his body.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I didn't want to get right back into the main plot just yet, and this is what I came up with. For Luigi's horrid nightmare, did it signify anything? Or was it just a bad dream? Nonetheless, what was that all about?_

 _Next time on_ _Hidden Bravery_ _, Luigi and Mario will reunite with Sonic and Tails to make their way to Sparkling Waters. But what is in store for our heroes?_

 _Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you in the next one! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Haunted Shipwreck is the ghost level in Sparkling Waters in_ _NSMBU_ _. This is where Yoshi, Eggman, Orbot, Cubot, & Knuckles are imprisoned. _

**_(2):_** _(SPOILERS!) In_ _Paper Mario: TTYD_ _, the purpose of Peach being kidnapped was to have her body used to revive an ancient demon's soul that was locked up in the depths of the underground palace for a thousand years. The Shadow Queen, in Peach's body, was the final boss of this RPG._


	32. Ch 31: Sudden Breakdown

_A/N:_ _UPDATE- I'm going to make it my goal to continue updating this fanfiction every Monday up until August 28th which is when I go back to school. And because I'll be more busy with work this year, the story will either be posted inconsistently, or on hiatus. I'll explain more in detail about this in a future upload._

 _Now for today, fair warning: the middle of this chapter is somewhat dark. Nothing too horrific or explicit that would make this M rated, but I would consider it unanticipated, for the characters that is._

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I only take credit for my OCs and the plot. You know the rest._

* * *

 **Chapter 31: ** Sudden Breakdown

It took a solid ten minutes for Luigi to refocus on what he was doing in the first place: showering. He lathered his hair and body after contemplating his awful nightmare in the tub. Once he got out, he dried himself and brushed his teeth, as per usual for his morning hygienic routine. He came out of the bathroom wearing his new set of clothes; it was his typical plumber outfit except with a short-sleeved green T-shirt since Mario recommended the apparel. He returned to his bedroom to put on his green hat and brown boots before he headed downstairs.

As he entered the kitchen, he saw his older brother sitting at the kitchen table. Mario was already halfway done with his meal while Colombo was gnawing on a golden bone in the corner. It wasn't a special breakfast like before; just two simple bowls of milk and cereal with a plate of toast topped with Jammin' Jelly and some orange juice.

But Luigi couldn't care less about food. Today was another big day for the heroes as they continue their quest to track down the remaining Dark Moon pieces. They also have to figure out how to stop Myster Edge from creating the Oblivion, but that requires taking back the five Chaos Emeralds he has in his possession. Right now, that issue is technically the main priority, but they were not in favor of winning back those collectibles.

Mario, Luigi, Sonic, and Tails were a dynamic, cooperative dream team; when working together, these guys can do almost anything! But when you pit them against a mysterious, yet dangerous, entity with five very powerful objects versus the two they have, chances are the opposing side with the disadvantage, the heroes in this case, isn't going to win. That's almost guaranteed based off the physical damage and chaos he caused to Luigi and his friends. Edge was still on the hunt for the green and yellow jewels they have kept. Having them fall into the wrong hands would put the worlds on the brink of extinction. And _that_ wasn't an option. Now wasn't the time to overcome the villain's tyranny. They must become more powerful than Edge. But how?

"Luigi, what are you doing?"

The green clad man shook his head and went back to reality when he heard his brother calling him.

"Sorry, Mario. I was daydreaming," he partially told the truth.

Mario was unsure of his response. "If that's what's up, okay then."

He sat in the other chair across from Mario. He swirled his cereal in the milk before eating a spoonful. He didn't say a word at all, creating some awkward silence between the brothers.

Mario took a bite of toast before speaking up. "Princess Peach called me while you were in the bathroom. She said that Sonic and Tails will be waiting for us while the girls go shopping. She also allowed us to use the Mushroom Copter again. Oh, and we got to get to the castle by 10:00."

Luigi looked at the wall clock: 9:28 a.m. He silently nodded and resumed mixing his breakfast while resting his head on his other hand. Mario could easily tell something was wrong with Luigi. Whatever he dreamt of must have scarred him in some way. But he wondered what it could be since he refused to tell him. He tried to ask him again.

"Luigi, are you okay?"

He looked up without moving his head. "I'm fine, bro."

"You don't look fine to me. What's the matter? Did you have another bad dream or something?"

 _"I knew he's gonna keep asking me until I confess. But, how is he going to react, **if** I tell him? Should I still keep it to myself?"_ he contemplated.

"Luigi?" Mario started to get impatient.

The man in green sighed. "It's nothing, Mario. I'm just… not hungry."

"Weege, you need to eat your breakfast. You're not going to have energy for today. We still have to find those Dark Moon pieces and eventually prevent Edge from getting rid of all worlds and ruling the universe. We have to be prepared as usual. Besides, I think you're lying to me."

Even though Mario's accusation was true, Luigi was getting a bit fed up from him. But he did his best to refrain from yelling in his face. _"I don't want to start another fight with him, especially not after the last one in the clinic. Mamma Mia, I still get chills from that."_

Mario closed his eyes and shook his head. He temporarily removed his hat to wipe some sweat off his forehead. "I'm just going to say this once, fratello. If you're not comfortable explaining it to me now, at some point you're gonna have to tell me eventually. But just know that I'm willing to help you in any way whenever you feel upset or stressed out. I'm never going to leave your side, bro. Just like you never left me."

Luigi gulped. After he listened to him, he took his sibling's words to heart. A part of him wanted to cry knowing that Mario was there for him. It was almost in the same way when he showed his emotions and brotherly love to Mario in Dream's Deep when his dreamy counterpart was lost. **_(1)_** But it was one of those heartfelt moments where they realize that either one would be incomplete without the other by their side. One half needed the other, to stick as brothers until the end.

He didn't smile, but he at least appreciated his support. "Thanks, Mario," he whispered softly.

Mario heard him and responded back. "You're welcome, Luigi."

It was 9:40 by the time they finished their breakfast. After placing the dishes in the sink, they walked out the front door with Colombo following them. They locked up the house and proceeded down the pipe to make haste towards Peach's Castle.

* * *

 _Location: Toad Town_

Outside the pink and white palace, Sonic, Tails, Amy, Blaze, Rouge, Cream, and Cheese arrived from the Mushroom Warp Pipe and greeted Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, and Toadsworth who were waiting on the bridge.

"Hello, your majesties!" Cream bowed to the royal rulers. "Ready to go shopping today?"

"Chao Chao!" Cheese replied eagerly.

"I'm ready to go, Cream," beamed Peach. "How about the others?"

"I'm so ready! Do you girls know any good spa places around here?" Amy asked.

"My cruiser features a luxurious, five-star experience for all guests, but it's back in Sarasaland and that's very far from here," boasted Daisy.

"Which is why we'll be going to the Mushroom City Mall today. I've been to this place only a few times, but the service is fantastic!" explained Peach.

"What do they offer?" wondered Blaze.

"Oh, plenty of treatments and amenities! They feature cucumber facials, hot stone massages, hair washes, a fabulous whirlpool, private saunas, and many more!"

"I could be down for a soothing facial," Rouge pondered. "And maybe after that, I could chill in the sauna. My back is killing me right now!"

"Probably from trying to find jewels to steal rather than find our friends or the Emeralds," grumbled Sonic, holding his blue life jacket.

"Oh, Blue. You're just upset because you won't be able to join us," the seductive bat winked.

"That's not what I'm upset about, for your information."

"Then what is the matter, Master Sonic?" Toadsworth asked.

"We're going to Sparkling Waters to find the next Dark Moon piece," Tails answered. "And because that place is water-based…"

"I appreciate the explanation, but you better stop right there. I don't need to feel more uncomfortable at this point," the blue hedgehog ordered.

"I should remind you that you could have opted out and let Tails, Mario, and Luigi take care of this part of the quest," sassed Amy.

"But you threatened me with your freaking hammer!"

"You easily outran me with your speed!"

"I wasn't going to take the chance to get knocked up by you!"

"Guys, stop! I've already heard enough from you two back at the lab last night. We don't need this useless banter right now!" complained Tails.

Sonic sighed. "Sorry, bud."

"Yeah, sorry, Tails," Amy apologized.

"Where's Mario and Luigi? Are they running late?"

"I presume they should be arriving shortly, Master Tails. The princess called them to meet us here at ten o'clock." Toadsworth took a second to pull out his pocket watch. "It is currently 9:57 a.m. They may not be punctual, but I expect the two to appear any minute soon."

The group continued to enjoy some friendly talk while they waited for Mario and Luigi. By the time it was ten in the morning, a large bell chimed throughout the kingdom. The brothers reached the castle when the brass clapper struck it for the tenth time.

"Oh, there they are!" Cream pointed out.

The red and green plumbers and the Polterpup approached the large crowd in front of the castle. Mario and Colombo seemed happy to see everyone again, but Luigi was indifferent. Truthfully, he thought it was nice to see some of their Mobian friends again, save for Sonic and Tails. However, he could not withstand replaying the ordeal in his head over again. He expressed a neutral face, not a smile nor a frown was shown below his mustache.

"Glad you guys made it here!" greeted Peach. "You going to be okay in Sparkling Waters?"

"We'll do our best, Peach. You girls have fun on… whatever you're doing," replied Mario.

Peach giggled. But when she turned to Luigi, she noticed how distressed he looked.

"Luigi, is something wrong?"

He looked up when he heard her question. Instead of responding though, he looked around to see the other girls, as well as Sonic, Tails, and Toadsworth staring at him. Having all those eyes gazing in his direction made him uncomfortable. So uncomfortable that he started to lose consciousness, as well as his balance. His legs wobbled and started to fall back.

"Luigi!" Mario was there to catch him before he had a chance to land on the ground.

Daisy slowly walked up to her lover. "Luigi. Luigi, can you hear me?" she waved her hand in front of him.

Luigi took a glance at the flower princess. But as soon as he did, his vision flashed and the scenery changed around him. It was the exact scene in his nightmare, where the kingdom was terrorized by Edge and his friends were trapped. Only this time, he saw Edge causing each and every one of his friends to suffocate in their prison. Seconds later, all the bodies were limp and lifeless.

Without a warning, Luigi screamed at the top of his lungs. He startled everyone around him, including Mario who let him go. When he did that, Luigi fell onto his bottom and started scuttling backwards away from the group. They stared at him wide-eyed as if he was going crazy.

Mario ran up to him and shook his shoulders.

"Luigi! Luigi, snap out of it!"

Since it wasn't working, he tried snapping his fingers, waving his hands in front his scared, blue eyes, but nothing stopped him from continuing his episode. At one point, Mario, regrettably, slapped him across his cheek. He cringed to even think about hurting his younger bro, but what other options did he have?

Surprisingly, it seemed to work. Luigi blinked several times repeatedly. His vision started to come back to normal as he stared at Mario with the background being a clear sky of blue instead of a hellish red. However, it only lasted a couple seconds. The green man then covered his face in fear and shrieked again. The reason? He could have sworn he saw someone behind his brother. Someone with yellow eyes glaring into his soul.

"Luigi! Luigi!"

Mario kept calling his name. Daisy, Sonic, Tails, and the others tried to help him out of his phase, but to no avail. They huddled around the younger brother as they watched him remain on the ground as he cowered, isolating himself from everyone. He shuddered and still hid his face as he couldn't bear to look at anything. And moments later, he bawled. Tears starting to flow down his face as he couldn't handle the stress. Although it seemed embarrassing for a middle-aged man to cry, Luigi was too mentally disturbed to even care about what he was doing. He had a reason, or plenty of them, on why he was suffering. Nonetheless, he hurriedly got up on his feet and ran away. Despite the pleads from his friends, he ignored them as he sprinted towards the southern path.

Silence roamed in the kingdom as the party was in a mix of emotions: shock, sympathy, and bewilderment. They were shocked by his sudden outburst, and felt sorry that he's going through a mental breakdown. That brings up the bewildered part; what was the cause of this unexpected event?

"Mario, what just happened to Luigi? Is he alright?" asked Sonic.

Mario wished he knew and he hoped the answer to the second question was 'yes'. But it sure didn't seem to fit the bill. And yet, he still doesn't know the direct reason why Luigi was feeling this way.

He hesitantly answered, "I… I don't know. I'm gonna go find him."

"Do you want us to come with you, Mario?" offered Tails.

"Thanks, Tails. But maybe I should do this alone."

"Please, Mario. I care about Luigi as much as you do. He's one of my best friends, after all."

The red plumber sighed, but accepted the help. "Okay then. Princess, can I have the keys to the helicopter, please? It probably would be faster to search for him while flying."

Peach nodded in understanding. "Toadsworth has them with him. He'll escort you over there again."

"Good luck finding him, guys," said a worried Amy.

"Thanks. We're going to need it."

"This way, sirs."

Toadsworth led Mario, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo to the castle helipad. The girls all looked at each other with concerned faces.

"You think they'll find him soon?" questioned Blaze.

"I can only hope so," yearned Daisy.

"Should we cancel our day off?" Rouge wondered.

"I still have some shopping to do. We can go to the spa if you would like. Maybe we can relieve some tension after what went down," considered Peach.

"I wouldn't mind. But I do wish they can find Mr. Luigi and save the others soon. I'm so scared to see him like this," Cream sulked as she hugged Cheese.

The seven slowly trotted to the train station that would take them to Mushroom City. Their minds were still pinned to their green friend and his abrupt collapse. They could only wish he would recover as soon as possible, alongside the others in finding him before things could get even worse.

* * *

Tails, Sonic, Mario, and Colombo quickly boarded the Mushroom Copter and took to the skies to find Luigi. They searched carefully throughout the kingdom with Mario steering the vehicle and reading the electronic map while the others used binoculars to see the town from high above. With no luck, Sonic took a minute to speak with Mario. He walked over to the pilot's seat and stood behind him.

"Any sign of him?"

Mario shook his head miserably. "No. I haven't seen him yet."

Sonic sat in the other seat where Luigi should have been. "Do you what happened to him?"

Not being able to focus, he flipped a switch to autopilot as the helicopter flew on its own. The map continued to track any indications of his missing brother.

"From what I know, this morning I woke up early to prepare for today. I was going to wake him up for breakfast until I heard some noises. It wasn't anything paranormal though. I think he was stirring in his sleep."

"So he had a nightmare?"

"It seems logical. He has been prone to having bad dreams, especially during our vacation in Pi'illo Island."

"What was it about?"

Mario leaned back and stared at the ceiling. "Hell if I know. He didn't want to tell me. I tried to do anything to help or get him to spill the beans. But he resisted, so I don't know what he dreamt about that made him so afraid."

"Do you think it could be Edge's doing? Could he have manipulated another bad dream for him to suffer from?"

"That's a possibility, yet I think it was just pure chance he dreamed of it on his own."

"Well, you never know for sure."

"I can only if he would tell me. That is, if we find him before he does something we'll both regret."

Sonic leaned forward with a serious look. "Don't worry, Mario. We'll make sure he's alright."

Mario closed his eyes and nodded. He turned back to the control panel and switched the autopilot off. He resumed his search to find his younger brother. Sonic sympathetically stared at him before he sighed and sat next to Tails and Colombo who remained searching out the large window.

"Is Mario alright?" the kitsune whispered without shifting his gaze.

"Nope. He's distraught. I feel so useless for not helping him."

Colombo whimpered as he nudged his head in Sonic's lap. The hedgehog calmly petted him.

"There are things that we're able to do, and some things that we can't. At least you tried to make him feel better. But given the situation he's in, it's understandable why he feels that way." He finally took his eyes away from his binoculars. "Just give him some time alone. He probably needs it."

"I guess so."

Sonic rotated his head again to look at Mario again. Although he could only see the back of his head, he could picture the look on his face. One full of frustration and worriment. Frustration from not aiding his brother (and not learning about his nightmare), and worriment from losing him again. He decided to go back to searching, anything to assist his best friend.

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

 _"You're gonna be the reason why my plan will be complete."_

 _…_

 _"Let's just say that you'll look nice next to my side."_

 _…_

 _"Once I get rid of every disgusting world for good, I shall construct a new empire to my liking. What's best about it is that **you** won't be here to interfere with me."_

 _…_

 _"I just wanted you join my side for personal reasons. You're the best vessel for the resurrection I plan to perpetrate."_

 _…_

 _"Welcome back. It's good to see you again after so long."_

 _"The feeling is mutual, Edge. I am grateful to see you, too."_

 _…_

 _"Now then, take over this being! For you shall control his body to rule by my side!"_

 _…_

 _"You're nothing but a pushover. A pacifist. A loser."_

 _…_

Luigi ran all the way here to catch his breath and calm himself down. Now, he was sitting on the grass with his back against a bare tree. He started to get a headache from all the nightmares and run-ins he had with Myster Edge, both real and fake, since the time he haunted him during his three-day coma. All those dark memories made him piece together what Edge's plan was.

There were two parts to it. One was obvious from the start: to destroy all the worlds and create a new empire to his benefit. The second had to do something with the bad dream and everything Edge told him prior to that night. It was about him being next to Edge, as a victim to revive someone from the dead. And that someone happened to be related to both him and Mario in some way.

There was too much to handle with many lives and worlds at stake. And Luigi was unsure of what to do from all this trauma.

 _"Am I even capable of stopping him? Am I really worthless? And why **him** of all people? Oh, Mamma Mia. Why me?"_

He pulled his knees to his chest and dug his head. He silently sobbed to himself as the chagrin got to him yet again.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Just like Ch. 24, I went against my previous intentions on what I planned to write. And for this one, I toyed with his emotions, made him feel terrible… I'm such a jerk to Luigi. Can he ever catch a break? The answer, unfortunately, is no._

 _But next time on Hidden Bravery, we'll stop with the filler content and actually get right back into the action. The heroes will venture to Sparkling Waters to find the next Dark Moon fragment. The new question is, can our main character recuperate from his sudden breakdown?_

 _Please review, follow/favorite, and send your wishes to the man in green. He's going to need them. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I wanted to reference one of my favorite parts of Mario & Luigi: Dream Team. That's the power of brotherly love between these two characters. When Dreamy Luigi got lost in Dream's Deep, Luigi's thoughts and emotions could be heard regarding his big bro and himself. It was very emotional to me when I first played the game. Brings back great memories._

 _FairyTalePrincess16, one of my reviewers from my other story, actually suggested this idea to me. I still want to reference it in New Brotherhood, too. But that will have to wait until later._


	33. Ch 32: Sink or Swim

_A/N:_ _Another short chapter, but we're getting somewhere this time. On with the adventure!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Don't own Mario. Don't own Sonic. Don't own anything that is property of Nintendo or Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 32:** Sink or Swim

No luck.

Just two simple words to describe the gang's current situation as they tried to find their green friend. Since he ran away from the rest of the group, Mario, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo have searched for an hour, but have not found any signs of Luigi. In the pilot's seat, Mario flipped on the autopilot and plopped his head on the U-shaped yoke in frustration, feeling tired and upset with this whole ordeal. **_(1)_**

Tails approached him as a chance to comfort him. He placed his hands on his shoulders from behind his seat.

"Sorry, Mario. We haven't found him yet. But we will soon."

Mario didn't respond, but he exhaled a small sigh. Tails frowned as he felt sympathetic. Just then, his communicator started buzzing on his wrist.

"Who's calling?" Sonic asked while staring at the window.

Tails clicked a few buttons and found the caller ID. "It's Professor E. Gadd. He's probably wondering why we're late to his lab."

"This wouldn't be happening if he didn't start hallucinating over whatever was going on."

Mario lifted his head up to glare at the hedgehog. "Don't start that crap with me. I told you, I don't know why he acted like that back at the castle, so could you lay off? At least you're not near Sparkling Waters yet."

"Oh, I don't plan on swimming, if that's what you're implying."

"Then why'd you bring your life jacket?"

"Just in case, sheesh!"

"Guys, stop arguing, please! Let me take this call. Meanwhile, keep searching for Luigi."

"Fine," they both said.

Tails walked to the back of the helicopter to talk in private. He accepted the call and apologized from the start.

"Hello, Professor? Sorry I didn't pick up immediately."

"No need to ask for forgiveness, Tails," he replied politely. "I was just wondering where you and the others are."

"Well you see, E. Gadd, something went wrong with Luigi. Mario explained that when he came to wake him up this morning, he seemed to have another nightmare. The problem is that he didn't tell what it was about. Then we met with the brothers to make our way to Boo Woods to pick up his Poltergust, but then… How do I say this calmly?"

"What happened?" E. Gadd curiously replied.

"Before we could even head off, he screamed. His face went pale like he'd seen a ghost."

"Well he has seen plenty of those, probably hundreds by now."

"But this is different. It was like he was in his own world, panicking over something that we couldn't see or understand. It all happened within his mind. Neither Mario, Sonic, or anyone else, including me, knew what the hell was going on. And before we know it, Luigi ran away in fear. To this moment, we're searching for him while the girls are busy shopping."

Silence was heard on the other line as the professor slowly took in Tails' speech. After a while, the old man nodded.

"I see…"

"Do you happen to know where Luigi is, Professor?"

"Actually, that's the reason why I called you, Tails," he scratched the back of his head.

"Wait. What?"

Mario happened to barely hear E. Gadd's response that he decided to eavesdrop on their conversation. The helicopter was still on autopilot, but he pretended to navigate the aircraft.

"You see, I exited my bunker to see where you guys were or, at the very least, see if you were coming my way. I stood outside for at least fifteen minutes and I didn't see anyone at all. That is until I saw some green sitting near a bare tree."

Tails' eyes widened. "Huh? You mean…"

"I found Luigi all alone in the woods. He seemed to be sleeping at the time. I also noticed how red his face was. Not to mention, I noticed some dried tears on his cheeks."

 _"Poor Luigi…"_ Tails thought.

"I had to ask Zephyr to help me carry him into my guest room. He's still out cold right now. But I suggest you tell the guys to reach Boo Woods. In the meantime, I'll try to make him feel better until he wakes up."

"Okay. I'll tell them soon. Thanks for letting me know."

"I'll see you youngsters then," the Professor ended the call.

Tails shut down his communicator and returned to the other three.

"So what did he say?" Sonic turned to him.

"He found Luigi. He's resting in his lab."

Colombo panted happily at the news knowing that the man in green was safe at least.

"Mario, set a course to Boo Woods."

"Gotcha," he responded as he switched to the manual controls. He gripped the steering bars with a determined look on his face. "Hang on, Luigi. We're on our way."

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

Another twenty minutes elapsed by the time the Mushroom Copter landed outside the bunker. The quartet hopped out of the vehicle and walked up to the door. After knocking, Professor E. Gadd unlocked the entrance and they entered inside. They came to face to face with him and the Greenie who were anxiously waiting in the lab.

"Morning, everyone," E. Gadd greeted. Zephyr gave them a wave.

"Hello, Professor," Tails responded.

"Where's Luigi?" Mario asked desperately.

"Follow me to the guest room. He's resting there again."

They led the group down the hallway and entered the same room Luigi was in the night Edge interfered with the Pixelator's signal. There they saw him lying under the sheets with his head firm on top of the pillow as he recovered.

"How did you even find him?" Mario whispered.

"Like I told Tails, I simply saw him outside of the woods when I was waiting for you guys to arrive. I took him in when he seemed to be lost. Not as in lost by directions, but lost in his own thoughts. Even I was baffled to find him here."

"Is he getting better at least?"

He shook his head. "I cannot confirm his condition right now. If I was a doctor, I'd probably diagnose something quickly. Alas, I am only a scientist, an inventor, a ghost expert, anything but a skilled practitioner."

Zephyr exited the room for a minute and came back to offer some tea to the heroes, to which they all accepted. Colombo carefully jumped on the bed and sniffed the bedridden man. He whimpered sadly when his body didn't move. The others stood there waiting for their friend to recover, but one of them didn't have the patience.

"Can't we just wake him up already? This isn't the time to sit around and do nothing. Although, if it keeps me away from water, then I couldn't care less."

"Way to look on the bright side, Sonic," Mario muttered sardonically.

Tails was pacing around as he put a hand to his chin. Seconds later, he snapped his fingers as he came up with an idea.

"Professor E. Gadd, can you hand me the third Dark Moon piece Luigi retrieved?"

The guys looked at him wondering what the kitsune thought of, whereas the old man didn't bother to ask.

"Sure. I'll be right back."

As he left, Sonic walked up to his two-tailed brother. "Why do you need the Dark Moon piece, Tails?"

He ruffled through his appendages to take out the yellow gem. "Remember how the Chaos Emerald and the Dark Moon fragment somehow managed to combine their powers and heal Luigi?"

"Yeah, so?"

"The Emeralds have an unlimited source of power, both positive and negative energy emitting from within these artifacts. Maybe the positive energy has some connection with the Dark Moon fragments once they're cleaned off by E. Gadd's Energy Suppressor."

Mario joined the conversation with confusion written on his face. "But what kind of connection would it be if you have two different objects originating in separate dimensions? How can their energy simply merge into one? How does that make sense?"

"I was actually scrutinizing my emerald last night before I went to sleep. From my research, I couldn't detect anything extraordinary radiating from it. I even tried to concentrate and hold it tight in my hand. But it was pointless. There was no reaction whatsoever."

"And the fact it didn't heal you after that robot took you didn't make sense to me," Sonic shook his head as he put a fist on his hip.

"At least I'm not in those bandages anymore. I still feel fine."

 _"Unlike Luigi,"_ Mario moped to himself.

"Nonetheless, I couldn't figure out how two foreign pieces have a tied relationship with each other. It's definitely a mystery, for sure. I just wish we had the answers to understand this dilemma."

E. Gadd returned to the group and took out the purple piece from his lab coat.

"Here you go."

"Thanks, Professor," said Tails.

He walked over to the side of the bed and held out both objects in front of Luigi. Sonic stood next to Tails while Mario, E. Gadd, and Zephyr occupied the other side. Colombo backed up away from Luigi to let him do… whatever he was doing. Tails concentrated deeply, and then something happened. The yellow gem and the moon piece emitted a glimmer of yellow and purple. The objects floated from his hands and spun around in the air. Soon after, their powers combined into one and an orb appeared. Immediately, it entered Luigi's body and the room shined brightly. As the emerald and fragment fell onto the bed, the group saw the green man's eyes flutter. They finally opened up and he groaned from his wake-up call.

"Ugh, what happened?" Luigi twitched his neck.

"Luigi… You alright?"

The younger brother tilted his head towards Mario. He blinked twice before bulging his eyes wide open. However, he wasn't going through another breakdown or hallucination.

"M-Mario?" He looked around to see the others. "Professor? Sonic? Tails? Colombo? Zephyr? Where am I?"

"You're in my lab, sonny. I found you outside. Then Zeph and I took care of you afterwards."

His memory started to resurface. Once he remembered everything, Luigi immediately felt guilty. "Oh my god. Guys, I'm so sorry I panicked back at the castle. I was… I…" He sighed heavily. "I don't know what to say anymore."

Mario put a hand on his shoulder. "There's no need. I'm just glad you're okay and safe." He then pulled him in a tight embrace.

Luigi fidgeted his lips, feeling worse that he made his brother search for so long when he should've been out focusing on the task at hand. From there, he tried to keep his tears at bay from breaking down yet again. He's done it so many times in the past that he's embarrassed with himself. Eventually, he returned the gesture and held his hands around Mario's back.

"I'm sorry, bro," he whispered.

"Don't worry, Weege. What matters is that we found you," he rubbed his back.

The two released from their hug and a moment of silence roamed the room. E. Gadd broke the awkward moment.

"Do you feel better at least?"

"Honestly, I'm fine physically. Mentally, just a bit iffy."

"Well, I'm not going to pressure you to get up to work immediately. If you need some time, just relax here as you please."

Luigi shook his head. "No, I probably wasted too much time already. We need to stop Edge and get those Dark Moon pieces back as soon as possible."

E. Gadd looked at him like he was unsure of his decision.

"I'll be fine. I promise." He turned to his other friends. "Sonic, Tails, Mario, Colombo… Again, I'm sorry I made you all worry."

"It's okay, Luigi. We're just grateful nothing bad happened to you," Tails comforted him.

"Yeah. To be honest, I was getting a little restless when we couldn't find you," Sonic uttered. "I know I'm not eager to go to our next destination, but we had to get you back in action."

"Well, I feel much better now. So, let's head off to Sparkling Waters!"

"I'll go get the Poltergust for you. Meet me outside your helicopter," E. Gadd told him.

Luigi nodded and watched him leave with Zephyr floating behind. Colombo, Tails, and Sonic made their way to the Mushroom Copter. He was about to follow them once he got out of bed. But before he could leave the room, he felt a hand on his shoulder.

He turned around and saw his older brother. "What is it, Mario?"

"Can you at least answer me now? What was your nightmare about?"

Luigi felt uneasy when he asked that question again.

"I'm not trying to discourage you, Weegie. But I really care about you and I don't want you to run away from me like that again."

He sighed. "I'm sorry, bro. It won't happen again. But, I still don't feel comfortable talking about it yet. I promise I'll open up later."

Mario was disappointed that he's hiding in the shadows yet again to conceal his secret. But he was still hopeful.

"Promise?"

"Cross my heart, and hope to die." He crossed his middle and index fingers and placed it over his chest to indicate his trustworthiness.

The man in red closed his eyes and exhaled through his nostrils. He reopened to look at Luigi once more. "If you say so. Well, let's not keep the professor waiting. He's probably about to head out to the Copter soon."

"Right. Let's go."

* * *

 _Location: Sparkling Waters_

The team boarded the helicopter after Luigi was equipped with his upgraded Poltergust 6000. E. Gadd mentioned that he upgraded the maximum amount of Shriek Shields to fifteen while he doubled the suction power to help reduce the ghosts' health points quicker than before. Once they left Boo Woods, Mario guided the aircraft across the Mushroom Kingdom for their next adventure. He landed the Copter at the three-way intersection between Sparkling Waters, Frosted Glacier, and Layer-Cake Desert. They exited the vehicle and locked up the doors as they headed south towards the tropical paradise. After climbing down a ladder, they approached the first area: Waterspout Beach.

"Man, it's been so long so we traveled here after Bowser threw us out of Peach's Castle. I remember how beautiful this place was. Yet there are many obstacles and enemies. Huckit Crabs, Cheep Cheeps, Piranha Plants…"

"Not to mention, _water_ ," Sonic interrupted Mario as he buckled his life jacket.

"We'll take it nice and slow for you so you won't fall behind, Sonic."

"Yeah, well… As long as none of you try to push me into the ocean, that would be somewhat pleasant. Otherwise you'll wish you didn't mess with me."

"Sonic, I would never do that. I'm your best friend. The last thing I want to do to you is get you in deep trouble," Tails defended himself.

"Were you trying to make a pun about how _deep_ the waters are? Tails, you're killing me here!"

"What? That wasn't intended!"

Luigi didn't want to interrupt their conversation, even though most of it was Sonic complaining about the trip. He decided to view the landscape. He didn't remember much of it since it's been years when he, Mario, and their Toad friends ventured through the water world. Within the distance, he saw the Haunted Shipwreck in the middle of the sea. Eggman, Orbot, Cubot, Knuckles, and Yoshi had to be imprisoned inside since it was the same ship he saw from the Dark Moon fragment. But it was a long way to go as they had to cross some levels before reaching the ghost vessel.

"It's either sink or swim from here, Sonic. But with your life jacket, it should negate the 'sink' part."

"Ha ha, very funny, Mario. Just warning you guys to not leave me out here to drown or fool around to make me get stuck in the middle of this death water."

"You'd have to go to Soda Jungle for death water. Because the purple 'soda' is anything but delicious."

"Pfft, let's just get to the stupid ship."

 _"Well, here we go again…"_ Luigi thought unenthusiastically.

Passing through Waterspout Beach, the five of them hopped from stone platforms to rising water geysers to cross the first zone. They dodged some rocks from the Huckits and avoided getting chomped by the Piranha Plants popping out of the pipes.

Colombo simply hopped onto the geysers as he led the group. Sonic did his best to avoid falling in the water below where a couple of Cheep Cheeps swam beneath the surface. Sometimes Tails offered to carry him over the large gaps, to which Sonic was thankful. Mario used some Ice Flowers to freeze a Huckit Crab and threw the ice block over a layer of geysers as it moved along the path. It knocked out some plants and a few fish, but at least it was easier to traverse. Luigi came face to face with some Greenies that came out of nowhere. Luckily, they weren't that big of a problem to fend off and he managed to suck them in the vacuum.

In a matter of minutes, they reached the end of the level and moved onto Tropical Refresher, a place where things were going to be tough for the Blue Blur.

"Oh, come on! We have to go underwater in this level?!"

"I'm afraid so," Mario answered.

"So much for not swimming. This is gonna suck so much…" he muttered.

"I'll stay close to you, big bro. I'm there for you," said Tails. It made Sonic feel a little better, but not much.

"Let's get this over with," Luigi stated.

One by one, they entered the horizontal pipe that led to a submerged course filled with tilted pipes, water currents, and several creatures including Cheep Cheeps, Bloopers, and Urchins. However, someone was watching them from beyond. His eyes were mainly focused on the man in green.

"I shall make you pay for trying to stop me, Luigi. I'll just give you some time before I deal out your punishment… And it _will_ be gruesome."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _And that marks the end of this chapter and the beginning to the heroes' journey in Sparkling Waters. Can Luigi claim the fourth Dark Moon piece? Will he ever explain his nightmare to Mario? And most of all, can Sonic overcome this hell that is swimming?_

 _Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys in Ch. 33! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I had to look up the name of that steering mechanism that is found in planes or aircrafts. What I found was the term 'yoke'. They can vary in shape in the form of a U, M, or W. Just a small little fun fact I learned from aeronautics._


	34. Ch 33: Rematch for Revenge

_A/N: I've been exhausted the past weekend, but I finally got this chapter done. This is the first since Ch. 25 where I wrote over 4,000 words, not including A/N's or PCN (Post-Chapter Notes). The beginning is filler, but the second part is where the action takes place for our heroes. Hopefully it turned out well._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I only own the plot, my OCs, and nothing else. Mario and Sonic, they're not my property._

* * *

 **Chapter 33:** Rematch for Revenge

 _Location: Mushroom City_

The girls spent the first half of their leisure day by shopping at the Mushroom City Mall. The girls decided to go their separate to do what they wanted.

Amy, Cream, and Cheese, were ecstatic to try out new clothes. It was surprisingly convenient for them to have stores that sell their sizes when most of the stores sell clothing aimed towards the overpopulated Toad community. Blaze and Rouge checked out jewelry, the bat undoubtedly amazed at the precious, stunning pieces on display. The purple cat decided to purchase something for her close friend, Silver, in hopes that he would be saved soon, for she misses him. Peach and Daisy did some casual shopping, not only looking at royal outfits (even though they wear the same dress EVERY day), but also purchasing groceries for the Mushroom chefs to prepare more meals.

Eventually, they all congregated at the Heart & Restore Spa, found in the west side of the humongous mall. They each had different treatments, once again being in the same groups. Amy and Cream were relaxing in vibrating chairs while receiving manicures and pedicures. Cheese was sitting next to Cream with a cucumber facial. Blaze and Rouge were laying on their stomachs while receiving soothing back massages. The princesses changed into their full body swimsuits to loosen their minds and muscles in the hot tub. Afterwards, everyone was covered in towels and entered a large sauna. They all sighed as the steam filled the room.

"Wow, this is such a great spa! You really know your locations, Peach!" complimented Amy.

"Thanks, Amy. It sure does feel nice to relax once in a while. I bet all of you were tired over the last several days."

"Yeah. It's just that we haven't found the rest who've been kidnapped, including Silver. I sure wish they can save him and the others soon," Blaze pondered.

"As long as Big Blue, Tails, and the mustached brothers survive against that fiend, Myster Edge. They'll probably take care of him though," Rouge nonchalantly added.

"Miss Daisy, is something wrong?" Cream asked the tomboy princess.

Everyone turned to her who seemed to be in her own world, not paying attention to anyone or anything.

"Daisy. Daisy," Peach shook her shoulder.

She looked up. "What?"

"Are you alright? You don't seem like yourself. Not even when we were shopping or in the whirlpool."

"Oh, I'm sorry."

"Is something wrong?" questioned Amy.

She sighed sadly. "It's… about Luigi." The girls didn't even need to ask for more information. Instead, they let her speak. "I have never seen him behave like that in my entire life. I mean, I know how he was when he had to rescue Mario from King Boo twice. It was expected to see him nervous at the very least. But this time… This time he was _horrified_. I was so scared to think that something bad happened to Luigi. If only I knew. If only I could help him."

All the tension that seemed to go away returned to everyone as they remained silent in the steam bath. They either stared at the hardwood floor, the walls, or the ceiling as they didn't know what else to say. But, Peach did have some heartfelt words.

"I honestly hope that Luigi didn't suffer from some bad dream or experience. Nonetheless, he'll some time to recompose. After all, he is a strong, brave person. He just needs to come out of the shadows and overcome his fears. And maybe, he could be able to stop Myster Edge, with the help of Mario, Sonic, and Tails."

"And don't forget about the cute ghost puppy!" Cream added.

"Yes, the Polterpup, too. Once he recuperates, he'll be back to help in whatever way he can. Just like Mario, I believe in him."

"Yeah! That's the way to think on the bright side! Just like how I always admire and think of Sonic whenever he comes out to save the day!" shouted Amy.

"And we'll also help out to the best of our ability!" chanted Blaze.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese cried cheerfully.

"In fact, once we head back, we'll set up a plan to find the rest of our friends and take back those Emeralds he stole."

"Yeah!" everyone but Daisy and Rouge yelled.

"Wait, so does that mean we have to cancel our spa day early? Oh, joy!"

"Oh, stop it, Rouge. This isn't the time to be selfish," Amy complained.

"Whatever. If you girls are going to do something productive together right now, then count me out. I prefer to work alone or with Shadow. But since he's gone, I'll be off by myself."

The bat didn't bother to listen to any of them asking her not to leave them, save for Daisy who was contemplating after hearing Peach's speech. Unfortunately, her demeanor caused her to isolate herself from the group as she decided to return to the jewelry store.

Blaze grumbled. "Ugh, sometimes Rouge can be such an egotistical brat. I even question why we hang out with her sometimes."

"She's already irritating trying to outduel us in figure skating. And to walk out on us, what a chump!" growled Amy.

"It's okay, guys. It doesn't matter, really. Let her do what she wants. We'll worry about her later. Let's just head back to the castle."

Everyone exited out of the sauna while the princesses were the last two to leave. The thing is though, Daisy still hadn't moved from her spot.

"Daisy?"

She barely looked up to stare at her friend.

"Daisy, Luigi is going to be okay. Just believe that he'll be fine, and he will. Trust me on this."

"Peach, I understand you're trying to make me feel better. And even though I'm down to do something to help them defeat Edge and prevent the worlds from falling into oblivion, I'm worried about him."

"It's going to be alright," the blonde princess gave her a hug. "Again, just believe in him."

" _Sigh_ , I'll try," she whispered.

Peach expressed a small smile. "Come on. We better head back now."

Daisy nodded silently as they went to the dressing rooms to change back into their normal clothes. Once the girls we're finished, they tipped the workers and proceeded their way back to Toad Town.

* * *

 _Location: Sparkling Waters_

"Great. Just. Freaking. Great..." Sonic groused while he entered the deep sea. "They call this Tropical Refresher? Well it sure doesn't look refreshing at all!" **_(1)_**

"Get a hold of yourself, Sonic," Tails rolled his eyes while holding onto Sonic's hand. "I'm going to swim by you in case you need to breathe or get out of trouble."

"I'm already in trouble! I'm swimming in water! And this life jacket is going to make me go up to the surface no matter what! What if I run into one of those gigantic Urchins? What if a fish decides to bite my tail? What if a tsunami comes out of nowhere and drowns us all?!"

 _"Whoever thought hedgehogs couldn't swim must have made his life a living hell,"_ Mario thought to himself. **_(2)_**

He turned his attention to Luigi was swimming ahead of everyone with Colombo dogpaddling (no pun intended) beside him. Again, the green plumber wore a neutral face and hasn't said a single word since they entered the level. Mario quickly swam up to him, distancing himself from the Mobian duo.

"Something up, Luigi?"

He moved his head to find Mario swimming to his left. "It's nothing. Let's just keep going. We have to save the others, even if three of them are Eggman and his robots."

Once again, Mario was disappointed that Luigi was trying to avoid a conversation. Then again, he felt like he has been bothering him every time he popped the question whether he was okay or if something was wrong. He decided to lay off this time. He looked back to see Tails guiding Sonic past the tilting pipes and currents. They managed to avoid all the water creatures through the underwater area. At long last, they entered the green pipe that brought them back up to land.

"OH, THANK HEAVENS WE'RE OUT OF THERE!" Sonic bellowed with emphasis.

"Don't get your hopes up soon, Sonic. If I remember right, the next area, the Giant Skewer Tower, has some more water as we start to ascend the fortress," reminisced Mario.

Sonic face planted into the ground. "Ugh, come on!" he muffled.

Tails pulled him back up and they approached the old stone tower. Luigi was the last to leave, but he looked behind him, feeling somewhat on edge.

"Why do I have an inkling that someone's watching me?" Luigi whispered to himself.

"Luigi, hurry up!"

"I'm coming, Mario!" He ran up to the others and they entered the tower.

Meanwhile, the purple shadow appeared from being invisible. He managed to follow the heroes just by teleporting with the Chaos Emeralds.

"I'll just let the Possessor take care of them at first. And if he fails, then I'll have to go for Plan B. When the timing is right, I'll plot my vengeance."

Edge waved his scepter to disappear from the spot.

* * *

The five heroes spent the next several minutes swimming, and hearing Sonic's bitter complaints about the fact that this tower had to be conquered by going through more water. Not only that, but they had to swim away and dodge the multitude of giant, black skewers spinning right at them. Sonic had some close calls here and there, but Tails was able to help him avoid each one. Luigi nearly got punctured in the nose, had he not activated a Shriek Shield.

"Why couldn't you use that for all of us so we wouldn't get hurt?!" grunted Sonic.

"I'm sorry! I just didn't think of it as soon as I defended myself!"

"Well how about activating one for me, or rather all of us?"

"Sonic, don't you think it's better off if he saved them for other dangerous occasions? Like when he needs to capture the next Possessor?" Mario reasoned.

"By the way, who do you need to catch next?" Tails wondered as they finally reached the surface.

"The third Possessor I fought was Overset, back in the Old Clockworks. I remembered he took control of a giant clock tower."

"A clock? That's it?" Sonic wasn't impressed.

"Well, the dangerous parts were when he made the clock hands stop at each hour and spawned many bombs, bugs, and ghosts at me. Greenies, Slammers, Sneakers, and Creepers, these slimy, purple ghosts that like to 'cuddle' me from inside their bodies," he shuddered. "They are NOT friendly huggers when the Dark Moon isn't there to influence them well."

"Gross," Tails stuck out his tongue in disgust.

"Come on, everyone. We're getting off-topic here. We still have more of this tower to climb," Mario reminded everyone as he was busy hopping on a note block.

They followed the red plumber while jumping and evading more skewers. It's been like that for another few minutes. Luigi had to use up two more shields; one was for him when some Greenies appeared in the tower and try to throw a Dry Bones that Mario froze with his ice powers; he used another when Tails was about to jump into an unexpected skewer.

"Thanks for the help, Luigi. That was close!"

"You're welcome, Tails."

"How much farther, Mario?" asked Sonic.

"We're almost at the top."

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped with excitement.

Soon, they entered a set of double doors that led to a boss fight. It led to a small room where the water reached the orange flooring, but there were no traps to fall into it, much to Sonic's relief. Back in Mario's first adventure here, the brothers and the Toads had to fight a Boom Boom, an orange henchman of Bowser's, who was given superior leaping skills, except they were negated by the brothers' own famous jumps. This time, they came across another being. Someone that none of the heroes expected.

"Mario! You came to save me!"

Everyone went wide-eyed when they saw Princess Peach in a cage hanging from the ceiling.

"What the heck?! How is Princess Peach even here? Did she get abducted while she was shopping?!" Sonic was baffled.

"That doesn't make any sense at all!" Tails yelled.

"Is that even her? Why is she facing the other way?" Luigi pondered.

Mario squinted his eyes. She stared at Peach for a moment, but he knew this was completely out of proportion. Why did this scenario seem… familiar…?

It instantly came to him. He narrowed his eyes and pointed at the 'princess'.

"Reveal yourself, Kamek!"

"What?" the others were perplexed, even Colombo tilted his head. However, Luigi realized what he was saying as soon as he mentioned the Magikoopa's name.

"Nyeh he he he he! So you _almost_ fell for it! But this time, you were actually smart to even recognize me, you meddling plumber!" He turned around to reveal his cheeky disguise. There stood the Magikoopa impersonating the princess yet again. "Yes, it is me! Bowser's most loyal apprentice!" Kamek introduced as he switched back to his blue robe and hat while flying on his broomstick.

"You deceitful bastard. This is the second time you've disguised yourself as the princess!" scowled Mario. ** _(3)_**

"Actually, it's the third time. But who's counting? Oh, yeah. It's me!"

"What are you doing here?" Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"Nothing really. But I thought some familiar faces would like to see you. Or rather, _pummel_ you."

"BWAHAHAHA!"

"Oh no…" His eyes shrunk and sweat dropped down his forehead.

"You've gotta be kidding me," Mario grumbled.

"No, no we're not," a deep voice nagged. By then, out of nowhere, the Koopa King landed on the ground hard and shook the tower which stunned the team. "So, Mario… We meet again," he grinned evilly.

"Oh, come off with this!" Sonic spread his hands out, palms facing up. "You're seriously back?! And here, too?!"

"You bet your sweet asses I'm back! And I'm going to get my revenge for what you did to me."

"And me!" Bowser Jr. flew from above in his Koopa Clown Car.

"And us!" Seven different voices came from the Koopalings as they jumped and landed in front of the Koopa King.

"NOW you're kidding me!" repeated Mario.

"Get ready for some revenge, because you stupid plumbers and rats have pushed my buttons for the last time!"

"When will you get through the fact that I'M A FREAKING HEDGEHOG?!" Sonic lost his temper that some steam flew out of his ears.

"You're not the only one who got called a rat, you know," Tails reminded him.

"This is so unfair! How can we take all of you down if we're outnumbered by double? And in such a small room, too?" whined Luigi.

"That's your own problem, Green 'Stache!" goaded Bowser.

"This is gonna be a piece of cake to destroy you once and for all!" teased Jr.

 _"There's no way we can survive. But, maybe…."_ Luigi turned to the hedgehog to whisper. "We might have to go to desperate measures here."

"What do you mean?" Sonic inquired.

"This is going to be tough, but maybe if you could use the Chaos Emeralds, you could easily one-up almost everyone."

"You know I can't go into my Super phase without all seven Emeralds, Luigi," he reminded with a bit of irritation.

"Just do what you can with the two of them. Team up with Tails and I'll side with Mario and Polterpup. Just watch your backs for any surprises. Whatever happens, don't back down. Besides, you're not one who gives up easily, just like Mario."

Sonic had never thought Luigi would be the one to strategize an attack plan, considering he was also the one to stand up against the last Possessor ghost. He turned to Tails, who nodded at him. The hedgehog faced the younger bro again.

"Alright. We'll go for it."

Luigi nodded back and got Mario and Colombo's attention. "Get the Fire Flowers and any other power-ups ready. Aim for Kamek first since he's going to try to use his magic to make them stronger."

Mario got the message and gave him a thumbs-up.

"ARGH! Are you gonna fight or keep stalling like a bunch of delinquents trying to escape from prison? Once I pound you jerks, I'm _going_ to throw you in prison! Let's get this started already!" Bowser roared.

"Bring it on, turtle breath!" Sonic jeered.

Tails discreetly slipped him his yellow Emerald and prepared for the next step. Sonic concentrated deeply as he tried to power up. Mario and Luigi donned in white hats and shirts with their colored overalls as they became Fire Mario and Fire Luigi once more. Colombo was ready to help his friends as he leaned back on all fours and growled while displaying his teeth.

"Koopalings, GO!"

"Charge!" Lemmy, Larry, and Iggy ran up to them first.

Colombo became invisible. The brothers jumped in time to dodge them. When they landed, they spewed a couple of red and green flames at the other Koopalings. They started throwing more towards Kamek and Jr. in midair. They got hit a couple times.

"Ouch! Watch it, mustached freaks!" the young Koopa kid hollered. He spat out a fireball of his own, but his slowly moved across the room, making it easy for Mario and Luigi to dodge.

Kamek put a spell on Jr.'s Clown Car so he could activate homing missiles and spiked balls.

"Let's see you stop us this time!" goaded the Magikoopa.

On the other side, Tails wiped out the three running Koopalings with his signature namesakes. They piled up on one another, but got back up a couple seconds later. When the kitsune moved out of the way, Sonic spread his arms out to perform Chaos Control. An energetic sound wave stunned the three Koopas. Tails followed with a spin attack and tied them up in his tails to throw them against the wall.

"Owie! That hurt!" Lemmy groaned.

"Ooof! Darn it! I think I cracked my shell!" Larry carped.

"Those smarts! And I thought I could outfox that fox!" Iggy readjusted his glasses.

"Well you just got served!" Tails beamed as he lunged forward for another homing attack.

Sonic got into the other action when he saw Roy and Wendy running at him. Simply with his speed, he zipped a couple inches to his left and extended his leg to make them trip. Humorously, he waved his finger.

"Unh unh unh! Too slow!"

"Gah! That was so cowardly!" Wendy mumbled on the floor.

"Grr… Damn, speedy hedgehog," Roy grunted as he fell on his shell.

"Heh, at least you acknowledged who I actually am. I'll give you some respect for that," he grinned his shiny teeth. "But for now…" He spin dashed into the pink and purple-shelled underlings. With enough power from the Emeralds, he busted them into the pile where Lemmy, Larry, and Iggy laid.

"Ha! Got 'em!" he clenched his fist in victory.

"Don't be so cocky yet!" That remark came from Ludwig. He and Morton ran up to them next.

"Whoa!" Sonic dodged in time.

"Sonic! Grab on!"

The Blue Blur swiftly gripped his friend's hands. They hovered up as the fox spun his two tails to avoid the Koopalings from ramming into them a second time.

Morton and Ludwig missed the Mobian targets, but sped towards to the Mario Bros. as they were busy by avoiding Jr.'s obstacles and Bowser's fire breath. They already defeated Kamek who was lying unconsciously over his broken broom. The king was angry after seeing that more than half of them were down for the count, so he joined the fight against the plumbers.

Luigi was about to throw another flame until he heard loud footsteps from behind. He turned around and shrieked. "Mario, watch out!"

"Huh?!"

The two almost head butted into Mario, but he turned invisible with Colombo's ability. Ludwig and Morton realized this until it was too late and ran into Bowser instead.

"GRAGGGH!" He landed on his large shell and struggled to get up.

"Oops! Sorry, Dad!" Morton apologized.

"Just get me up already!"

"Will do!" Ludwig hurriedly ran up to him.

He and Morton grabbed his hands and attempted to hoist him up. As they were busy, Mario and Colombo reappeared while Sonic and Tails rejoined them. The hedgehog stopped the Koopalings by releasing another sudden sound wave. They wiped out and fell onto their stomachs, causing both father and son to be infuriated.

"Can't you idiots do anything right?!" Bowser directed at the fallen Koopas.

"Do you guys have to be so annoying?! If you're going to play dirty, I'll show you dirty!" Jr. flailed his fists.

"This kid is going places," Sonic sarcastically snarked.

"Never mind that! Let's just finish off him and Bowser already!"

"That's what you think, Red Hat! Now take this!"

He dropped another spike ball from the dirigible and spat out five fireballs at the same time, targeting the heroes separately. Surprisingly, these ones were moving fast.

Colombo disappeared again, this time with Sonic and Tails since he could only help two people at a time. Luigi blocked himself and Mario with Shriek Shields and the fireballs disintegrated.

"Grr! You and your dumb dog are such wimps! It's no wonder you can't put up a decent fight!"

"Hey! Don't talk smack against my brother!" Mario spammed a fireball in retaliation.

"You think you're so cool with your jumps and moves when in reality Greenie can only be a sack of worthless trash!"

The trio of Sonic, Tails, and Colombo resurfaced as the brat kept spitting out more insults. Luigi did his best to ignore him and threw three more fireballs.

"Pfft! Such pathetic throws for a pathetic human being!"

Luigi started to build up more anger in his body, which was unlike his natural demeanor.

"Stop being so mean to our friend!" Tails snapped.

"Besides, you running your stupid mouth is already annoying enough!" derided Sonic as he unleashed another sound wave.

Jr. activated his glass dome barrier to counteract the move. "You think you can take me down that easily? I don't think so! At least you tried more than Greenie though."

More anger built up inside his heart.

"Seriously, have you ever learned when is it best to _shut up_?" Mario spoke lividly.

"No, I haven't. And I don't even care!"

As Jr. launched another spike ball, Bowser finally got off his shell and stood up. He snorted smoke through his nostrils and stared malignly at the team.

"You have crossed the line one too many times, losers. Now, prepare for the worst!"

The Koopa King sprinted, jumped up, and ground pounded into them. Mario, Sonic, and Tails ran away to dodge, Colombo turned invisible, and Luigi activated another Shriek Shield, leaving him with nine. He hit the barrier and bounced off to land in front of him.

Bowser grunted. "From what my son mentioned to you, he sure learned very quickly from yours truly. You may be a pain in the neck, but you're truly a pathetic human being! Your damn brother may be a so-called superstar, but you'll always live down as number two, the one person that no cares about. Because you're a loser!"

 _"You're nothing but a pushover. A pacifist. A loser."_

Edge's words rang into Luigi's head once again. His hands clenched into fists, his legs began to shake, his eyes were closed shut. He tried to compose himself and avoid the ridicule that was tormenting with his mind.

"Lay off him, Bowser!" Mario whipped out another flame. It didn't affect the Koopa that much.

"What's the point of bringing him along if he's too weak to fight us? Sure, he may have taken down Jr. on the airship, but that was probably just pure luck and no skill."

"You're wrong! He does have skill. And brains, a lot more brighter and bigger than yours!" criticized Tails as he flew over a missile from Jr.

Bowser breathed more fire at them. "If he had brains, he should have been smart enough to go crouch in a corner and act as a tool. In fact, he doesn't need to act. He already is one!"

Just then, an aura started to emit from Luigi, but no one seemed to notice.

"Would you quit being a dick to him? He's had enough of your verbal abuse!" Sonic lowered his eyebrows.

"Like it matters! He's just going to take it like a man, assuming he even is one, and still cry about it! Because he's a wimpy, little…"

"ENOUGH!"

Everyone turned to the booming voice. And what made everyone surprised was the fact it came from Luigi. Not only that, but they were shocked to see his appearance. With his Shriek Shield gone, he was back in his regular outfit. However, he was glowing purple. His eyes were a solid white with no trace of blue, making his stare a lot deadlier and disturbing to look at. His fists started to show signs of electricity, no flames whatsoever.

Suddenly, without warning, he blasted two bolts of thunder. **_(4)_** He aimed them at Bowser and Bowser Jr. One of them penetrated through the glass dome and shocked the Koopa Kid. The other zapped the Koopa King in the stomach. They both went flying towards the back wall close to Ludwig and Morton.

"WHAAAA!"

"BWARGH!"

The two enemies hit the wall very hard that it cracked. Then, the ramparts began to crumble, and the floor started breaking. Kamek and all the Koopalings ended up falling into the water below.

"W-what's going on?!" panicked Tails.

"I think the fortress is collapsing!" Mario warned.

"Then we gotta get out of here fast!" yelled Sonic.

"ARF! ARF!"

Colombo led the pack, Tails carried Sonic, and Mario was about to follow. But, he stopped when he noticed Luigi not moving. Some stones fell onto them, making the brothers lose their fire powers and caused their clothes to revert into their red and green counterparts. Bowser and Jr. weren't there anymore, so he assumed they fell in the water or down the Giant Skewer Tower.

"Luigi! Hurry up! We have to leave now!"

He turned around in a quick second to glare at his brother. Still in his demented phase, his white eyes met Mario's blue. It made the older sibling very uncomfortable as Luigi didn't move once after that. He cautiously backed away from him, but tried to reach out to him.

"Luigi," he said softly. "Are you…"

He couldn't finish his statement as Luigi ran up to him in a blink of an eye, almost at the same speed as Sonic! Mario was thrown back as he leaned away and sweated from seeing his stare up close. Luigi didn't say anything. He remained glowering at the man in red, not caring about the fortress going down.

"Luigi?"

"Go," he muttered monotonously.

Mario blinked. "W-what?"

"Go. _Now_."

"Luigi? I don't…"

"NOW!"

Mario flinched before he took a few seconds to listen to him. He ran away, but in regret for leaving his brother. Which made him wonder, what the heck happened to him? Why was he acting this way? Did his nightmare had to something about it? Or was there another force that caused him to go insane? Dazed and confused, he hopped down the fortress to avoid getting hurt by the diminishing stones. Yet he couldn't think straight as his mind was focused on his brother.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _This probably wasn't what you were expecting, but Bowser, Jr., Kamek, and the Koopalings have made a return, only to be trounced by our heroes! After being defeated, what will become of them this time? Meanwhile, what **exactly** went wrong with Luigi? Why didn't he escape with the other heroes? And where will the adventure lead to next? Stay tuned for Ch. 34 of  Hidden Bravery!_

 _Please review, follow/favorite, and as always, thanks for reading! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I know it's improbable for people to talk underwater, and I haven't implemented that when Mario, Luigi, and Colombo were swimming in Vanilla Dome. But this is fanfiction mixed in with random logic that doesn't make any sense. I'm just going to roll with it._

 ** _(2):_** _Can you say 'breaking the fourth wall'? Anyways,_ _Yuji Naka, a programmer who partook in the creation of Sonic, had a false assumption that all hedgehogs are incapable of swimming. Thus, our blue hero was stuck with that inability, plus the facet that he hates getting wet._

 ** _(3):_** _Kamek went incognito as Peach in New Super Mario Bros. Wii and M&L: Dream Team to trick Mario and company. This scene was more along the lines of NSMBW. Except Peach **wasn't** captured this time._

 ** _(4):_** _In M&L: Superstar Saga, Luigi was given the Thunderhand ability to shock foes, move Boo statues, and walk past rolling barrels while being stuck to Mario._

 _MalevolentDarkness16 did ask me about his Thunder powers in a previous review, but I haven't found an opportunity until now to mention it. But the reason on why it appeared in the first place won't be told yet._


	35. Ch 34: Overset the Outcome

_A/N: UPDATE- I start school next Monday. Because it's an important year for me, the story will be uploaded either every two weeks or once a month instead of once a week. Nonetheless, new uploads are posted on Mondays only._

 _Anyways, it's back-to-back chapters with a boss fight! This time, it's the Overset Possessor. What will he possess this time as he faces our green hero?_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I only take credit for Edge and my other OCs, as well as the story plot. Everything related to Mario and Sonic is not included._

* * *

 **Chapter 34** : Overset the Outcome

Inside the Haunted Shipwreck was a labyrinth of rooms that contained hidden paths and doors, both real and fake, underwater sections, Ghost Blocks, Fish Bones, and a large horde of Boos. When Mario and friends completed the ghost level, they would later access the second half of Sparkling Waters. However, that part of the world was basically idle; pointless in this scenario. Because found in that ship were the same prisoners whom were held there for the past several days. And that's who the heroes needed to rescue, despite three of them being Sonic's adversaries while another was an irascible frenemy. The only one who had a somewhat positive influence was Yoshi, except he's not fond of being locked in a ship without a lot of nutrition. And you know how hungry the green dinosaur can be.

Yoshi and Knuckles sat on one of the berths while Orbot and Cubot laid on the one near the porthole. They all heard a flush from the bathroom that the doctor used. But when he opened the door, everyone pinched their noses.

"What?!" Eggman put his hands on his hips.

"We don't even need to answer. Nor should you even question why we're doing this," the echidna spoke nasally.

Right now, he had duct tape covering his fists. He sustained some hand injuries over his temper. But since the guards treated them with little to no comfortable service, he discovered a roll of it inside the lonely drawer of the dresser and decided to wrap them. Why it was even there was a question on its own, but he didn't bother to contemplate on it since he had no other options. At least there was also an air refresher spray to eliminate the terrible odor. Orbot squirted the bottle as a refreshing smell spread throughout the cabin and into the bathroom. Everyone except Eggman released their noses and sighed of relief.

"I hate all of you," the doctor crossed his arms and looked away from them.

Yoshi's stomach growled for the fifth time today. "If only I had some juicy apples to eat. I miss the taste of fruit. The prison food they gave us is so gross."

"Oh, I don't know. The bread wasn't so bad. And I thought the juice was decent," Cubot commented, his voice chip back to normal after going through his pirate phase.

"Ugh, are you really serious? Part of that bread looked expired, not to mention, moldy. And the juice tasted like sweat squeezed from dirty socks," Orbot shook his head in disgust.

Yoshi stuck out his tongue and put a hand to his chest. "Okay, that's too much information. Now I lost my appetite."

Eggman walked over to the right bed and grabbed Orbot and Cubot's heads and threw on the floor… again.

"Ooof! You know it's a bit better to tell us to get off rather than _throw us_ off," Orbot groaned as he rubbed his left arm while getting up.

"I've done it to you imbeciles in the past so you either expect me to throw you off or deal with it," said Eggman.

"I sure hope Mario and his pals can find us. I miss them," Yoshi yearned.

"Even though I'm not really on good terms with that overgrowing hedgehog, I feel the same way about Sonic," Knuckles reciprocated his mindset.

"Hmph! For all I care, if that irritating rat does come here, I'm going to finally get rid of him, if it's the last thing I do! Right after I get my vengeance against the stupid shadow with the abnormal looking nose!"

"Like you don't have a weird nose of your own. Not to mention, but you also have some ugly hair growing out of it. It's the main reason why Sonic calls you Baldy McNosehair all the time." **_(1)_**

"You could say that to either Wario or Waluigi, except neither of them are bald. They just have bizarre noses and bad-looking mustaches. Not as clean as Mario or Luigi's," Yoshi stated.

"I wonder where he even got that nickname from?" Cubot scratched his noggin.

"Grr… Would you duncebuckets stop talking about that stupid name?! Every time someone mentions it, it drives me insane! Now quit it!"

"Yeesh, no need to act like a baby," the echidna rolled his eyes.

"Let's at least hope they can help us out of here," Orbot tried to look on the bright side.

* * *

Colombo, Tails, and Sonic exited the tower and reached the outside to find the path to the Haunted Shipwreck accessible. But before they could move on, they needed to wait for the Mario Bros. They were twenty feet away from the dwindling stronghold, and a couple feet close to the water.

"Where the heck are they?! They could be stuck under the debris if they don't get out of there in time," Sonic wondered.

"Come on, guys… Hurry up," Tails begged quietly.

"GRARRRGH!"

The three heard Bowser falling from the sky along with the other Koopas, his roar draining out the others' screams. They all plunged into the ocean creating a humongous splash altogether. A giant wave of water came across them, causing Sonic to run away. However, before he could dash, Colombo stopped him and became inconspicuous, touching both Mobians as they disappeared with him. After the wave crashed, the Polterpup reappeared with them. At the same time, Mario was running out of the entrance as more stones fell. But he wasn't paying attention to what was in front of him. As a result, he inadvertently ran into the hedgehog.

"Ugh! W-WHOA!" He lost his balance and fell into the water.

Mario dropped a beat of sweat in embarrassment. "Oops…"

"Sonic!" Tails flew over to the spot where he fell and waited for him to float back up. When he was in view, the fox gripped his hands tightly and got him out. He reached land and carefully placed his friend down. "Phew, that was close."

Sonic shook his fur and quills like a wet dog coming out of a dirty bath. Drops of water flew from his body. Then, he glared at Mario. "Yeah, _too_ close for me to almost drown! Watch where you're going next time!"

"I'm sorry! I wasn't looking, and I didn't mean to knock you in!"

"Sure. Just be lucky I was smart enough to bring my life jacket."

"Never mind that, where's Luigi?" Tails asked.

"About that, I-" Mario couldn't resume his answer when he heard a large explosion behind him. Everyone saw the building eradicated as a ton of rocks, broken skewers, and water drained out from the once stable fort. "Run!"

But again, Colombo was there to make him, Sonic, and Tails invisible as Mario was the only one to flee the wreckage. It was a close call for him considering the Polterpup was only capable enough to help two other people. The man in red had to defend himself and he got out in time without getting hurt.

Mario panted in relief and turned around to perceive a ruined pile where the Giant Skewer Tower once stood. He also saw the other three resurface. "I guess that was karma for accidentally plunging you into water."

"I'd consider it karma if you ended up getting hurt. But frankly, that's a little dark, so I guess I'll take that instead."

Mario lowered his eyelids, forming an unenthusiastic expression.

Just then, they all heard an irate roar from Bowser. They looked behind to see him in his own Koopa Clown vehicle, Jr. in his damaged one with Kamek riding beside him, and the Koopalings in another large one with Roy, Ludwig, Morton, Wendy, and Iggy standing inside with Larry and Lemmy hanging on to the rim.

"You're lucky you got us this time, Mario! But just wait until I plot my next plan for revenge! One where I'll finally demolish you for good!" the Koopa King raised a fist.

"Just fly back to your castle, Bowser. You're nothing but an annoyance to us, and it'd be much better to not see your ugly face," retorted Mario.

"I'm going to make you eat those words soon enough. Just you wait, I will end you and your friends! KOOPAS! LET'S GO!" he ordered the others.

"We'll see ya later, punks! Don't think we'll go easy on you next time!" Jr. pointed at them before he followed his dad.

"Like you idiots haven't been trying the past two times?" Sonic scoffed to himself, shaking his head.

The Koopalings glowered at the heroes without saying a single word. But all their eyes translated to _'Watch your backs'_ , or something along those lines.

"Mario, where is Luigi?" Tails reminded with worriment in his tone.

He gaped his eyes back open in shock. "Oh no!" He ran up to the stone heap, afraid that his brother was buried under. "Luigi! Luigi!" He scuffled through the rubble. "Luigi, where are you?!" He couldn't find him as he searched recklessly. The rest of them ran up to him.

"Mario?" Sonic murmured.

He didn't answer as he dug through more of the broken fortress. Colombo whimpered as he slowly approached him.

"He's got to be here. He has to!"

"Mario!" Tails gasped. "Look up there!"

Everyone lifted their heads in Tails' direction. Suddenly, their mouths became wide open. There, they saw Luigi floating in the air, face up, eyes closed, arms and legs spread out. They noticed that he was in another Shriek Shield, this one probably initiated before the explosion occurred. The barrier slowly dropped near the group. It soon disappeared and the man hit on the ground with a small thud. His eyes were still closed and didn't move.

Mario started shaking his shoulder. "Luigi. Luigi? Luigi, wake up, please."

The younger sibling slightly groaned, his face scrunched up.

"Luigi, it's us," Tails joined in. "Are you okay?"

"Say something, Weege. I'm begging you!"

Then, his eyes started to open. To Mario's relief, he saw azure, not just white.

"Oh…" Luigi raised his head, and tried to sit upright. His muscles felt weak, but he pushed himself. He blinked to refocus his vision, and he saw his friends with concerned looks on their faces. "M-Mario? What… What happened?"

The older Italian raised an eyebrow. "That's what I was going to ask you. What happened to _you_?"

Luigi took a moment to ponder. He looked down at his lap. "I-I don't… know. I can't remember what was going on earlier. Can you guys fill me in?"

The others gazed at each other before turning back to Luigi.

"Well," Sonic started, "we were about to finish off Bowser and his bratty son after defeating the Koopalings."

"Then, you just yelled out of nowhere. It kinda spooked me, to be honest," described Tails.

"I yelled? Why? What for?"

"You seemed to be angry at their comments against you. The next thing we noticed was you in some demented trance. When the tower was collapsing, we had to escape. But you… You didn't move at all," Mario explained.

Everyone was now staring at Mario since he seemed to be the only one who knew what happened minutes ago.

"Mario, do you know something that we don't?" Sonic questioned.

"You see, after you three exited the room, I stopped to tell Luigi to get out of here. He didn't though." He faced Luigi again. "You shot right at me, demanding me to leave you. I was so confused. I wanted to ask why you were acting like that, but I couldn't. You just wanted me to go. The next thing I knew, the tower blew up, Bowser and the others are gone, and here you are. Did you have something to do with that? Don't you remember anything at all?"

Luigi pondered. Unfortunately, he had no recollection of the events that transpired since entering the boss room. "I… I seriously can't recall. I didn't harm you at all, did I?" he asked concernedly.

"Oh no! No, you didn't. But, I don't know why you had a random outburst like that. It was phenomenal, yet very disturbing."

An awkward silence flew past the heroes' heads until Colombo started barking to get them back on track.

"I guess we should move forward, then?" Tails implied.

Sonic shrugged. "We got no other choice. Besides, the sooner we rescue Baldy McNosehair and the others, the faster we can get out of this place."

"I mean you do have a point there," Mario agreed. "Let's go right now."

Colombo, Sonic, and Tails hopped onto the geyser to reach the entrance of the haunted ghost ship. Before Mario plodded forward, he turned to see Luigi with a worried face.

"Luigi?"

"Mario, are you sure I didn't hurt you?"

Mario exhaled through his nose. He walked up to his brother and placed his hand on his shoulder. "You didn't hurt me, or anyone else."

Luigi stared at his shoes. "You asked me if I destroyed the fort. If I did do something, hypothetically speaking, was my rage the trigger for it happening? Do you think the afterglow from the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Moon pieces had something to do with it?"

Mario's head began to spin. "I rather not think of that right now. There's too much going on that I can't keep up. Sorry for bringing it up."

"But did I? What if I destroy something on accident, like Peach's Castle? Or Toad Town? Or-"

"Luigi, calm down! We'll discuss about this later. Maybe E. Gadd can draw up a conclusion. For now, let's go rescue our friends. And Eggman."

"If you say so."

The brothers moved forward to catch up with the Polterpup and the Mobians. What they didn't see was the villain emerging from his invisibility state. He happened to witness Luigi's rage from their rematch against the Koopas.

"Hmm… His anger was quite unexpected. Then again, I did get a taste of it when I screwed him up the first time. He doesn't know that he can control such powers like that. And soon, he will learn the ways. For it will be satisfying to manipulate him for my benefit. Oh, Luigi, you innocent fool… This is just the beginning."

Myster Edge disappeared out of sight as he discreetly followed the heroes.

* * *

Luigi and the gang entered the Haunted Shipwreck, knowing that the prisoners were stuck inside one of the rooms. They high jumped across the water to land on some levitating blocks while avoiding a Ghost Block that tried to home in on them. They waited for the platforms rise to reach the upper path. Next, they slid down some poles and hopped over more big blocks. They waited on one of the thin pillars until another one hovered near them. As they leapt onto it, the block took its time to reach the next platform. From there, the group entered the next door.

Along the way, the man in green did his best to face his fears against the onslaught of Boos that were individually hiding their faces when the group faces them, or spinning in circles with a bunch of other ghosts. On the bright side, none of them gave him a surprise heart attack. They swam underwater, much to Sonic's displeasure, and swam past even more Boos while avoiding the Fish Bones that tried to home into them.

Once they conquered that section, they reached a maze with translucent walls that contained hidden doorways and nooks for the heroes to discover. Luigi stunned a few Boos with his flashlight to keep them distracted. At other times, he confronted some unexpected Greenies, Slammers, and Sneakers who tried to knock them into the water below. He flashed the Strobulb and sucked every ghoul into the 6000. When he bested all of them, a key popped out of the Poltergust.

Mario picked it up. "Hmm… So a ghost was holding onto this. Must be important."

"Maybe it will unlock the door that Eggman and the others are in," assumed Tails.

"Probably. But I'm not gonna be happy one bit once we save him," Sonic crossed his arms.

"There's no sign of Overset so far. I wonder if he's hiding somewhere," Luigi thought.

"Alright, everyone. This way." Mario led the party to reveal a hidden door on a high platform. He wall-jumped up to it. "The exit should be through here. And I bet they're somewhere nearby."

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo woofed.

* * *

"AAAAHHHH!"

Luigi jumped three feet in the air and fell on his butt when a random Sneaker appeared centimeters from his face. Everyone else was startled from how high-pitched his shriek was.

"God damn, Luigi! Give us a warning next time!" Sonic rubbed his ears.

Luigi got back up and pulled the pink ghost into the nozzle. "I'm sorry. I just couldn't help it!"

"What the heck was that?" the guys heard a gruff voice.

"Was that a girl screaming?" came a robotic sound.

"Did you guys hear that?" asked Tails.

"Yeah," Mario nodded. "I think it's in that room up ahead."

"Hold on… I know that scream from everywhere." That statement came from the dinosaur, which made Luigi blush in embarrassment.

"Yoshi? Is that you in there?"

"Hey! That was Mario! He and the others are here!" Yoshi cheered.

"Finally! We can get out of this stupid ship!" Eggman accentuated.

Just as Mario was about to insert the key, Luigi felt a disturbance. He switched to his Dark Light Device to uncover anything hidden.

And there was.

Mario didn't realize it, but floating in front of him was a strong, white entity.

"Mario! Look out!" He shot a Shriek Shield at his brother.

The Overset Possessor materialized in front of the heroes. This distinguishable boss had a curved horn at its forehead with two more protruding towards the back. Not only did he gleam with white lines on his skin, but he had a purple glow from the Dark Moon fragment inside his body. He tried to push Mario, but the barrier made it to him on time. Mario got pushed back from the force of the shield, but he remained unscathed.

"Good lord! That was close!" Mario gasped in relief.

The Overset Possessor grumbled some incoherent noises, but it was easily discernible that he wasn't content. He vanished through the door and entered the captives' chamber. He glared at all of them before he traveled through the ship and dove into the blue. They were confused, giving each other awkward glances at one another. Before anyone could say a word, the door unlocked and was busted open.

"Yoshi!" the Mario Bros. yelled.

"Mario! Luigi!" Yoshi chirped happily. "Boy, I'm so happy to see you two again!"

"Knuckles! We finally found you!" Tails ran up to him, followed by Sonic.

"What's with the duct tape?" he pointed out.

"Gee, I'm fine, thanks for caring," Knuckles rolled his eyes. "I got my knuckles hurt from walloping that door so much. I guess I feel a little better now that we can get the heck out of here."

"Might as well. But first, we got some business to take care of. Come on, guys! We gotta find that freak sheet!"

Sonic sped out the cabin, with Mario, Luigi, Tails, Colombo, Yoshi, and Knuckles running behind him. Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot remained there for awhile, the first of them throwing a fit.

"So no one's gonna ask me if _I'm_ alright?! How rude! Some people can be such ignorant fools!"

The doctor stomped out of the room.

"And some people can just be quite obnoxious to work for," Orbot complained.

"Like who?"

Cubot clearly didn't catch the red robot's drift. Orbot let out a monotone bleep and shook his head as he exited. Cubot scratched his head before he trailed after him.

Moments later, all ten escaped the spooky labyrinth and reached the main deck of the cargo ship.

"Now where is that Possessor ghost?" Mario wondered.

"We saw him become invisible through the wall and lunged into the Sparkling Waters," answered Yoshi.

"So now what?" asked Luigi.

"If anyone brings up swimming, count me out. Because there's no way I'm gonna- GOOOOOOOOO!"

Everyone turned at the sound of Sonic screaming. And everyone went bug-eyed. Out in the waters was a familiar foe, one who Mario has fought several times, especially back on Isle Delfino. It was holding the hedgehog with one of its tentacles.

"Seriously, why am _I_ the one who gets stuck in a place like this again?!"

"Gooper Blooper! What the hell is he doing here?!" Mario shouted.

Knuckles was confused. "Goopy Bloo-what now?"

Luigi took a glance at the gargantuan sea creature. He noticed a purple aura beaming from his tentacles.

 _"Overset must have somehow revived Gooper Blooper. How did he manage to get him **here** though?!"_

"Sonic! I'm coming!" Tails cried out to his seized friend.

Luigi was out of his thoughts when he heard the fox. At the same time, he saw an incoming tentacle. "Tails, watch out!" He pulled him back when it tried to smack the fox and take him too. "Tails, the Overset Possessor has possessed Gooper. If you're not careful, he could take you, too!"

"Well I can't just do nothing! My best friend is in trouble! I gotta help him!"

Tails flew off the ship, dodging the tentacles left and right. But Gooper spat some ink towards the kit, depriving his vision and tarring his tails to stop rotating.

"AHHH!"

"Tails! No!" Sonic was extremely worried.

When he was blinded, he crashed into the water. The Blooper grabbed him with a separate tentacle. Tails didn't react as he soon became unconscious.

"Uh, guys?! A little help, please?! We really don't want to be squid bait!" he panicked loudly.

"Who is that beast?" Orbot inquired while he and Cubot were hiding behind Eggman's legs.

"He's this overgrown Blooper with large tentacles that he uses to slap anyone in his way. I had to face this guy three times during my ruined vacation," explained Mario.

"He's also found in other places, too! Princess Daisy's Cruiser, a pirate ship we played basketball, which I don't even know _why_ we decided to use that as a court, and many other places where there's water! **_(2)_** Yikes!" Yoshi exclaimed as everyone darted from a slimy appendage coming right at them. "That was a close one!"

"Basically, he's the biggest and worst Blooper in existence! His tentacles can pack a punch!" Mario highlighted while he ducked under another.

"Hey! Less talking, more saving! And it's us in this case! Because if you haven't noticed by now, we're stuck as side dishes for calamari!" Sonic yelled as Gooper flailed him around.

Eggman snickered. "I don't know. I like the looks of this. Yeah! Drown that hedgehog! Give him what he deserves!"

"NOT HELPING, EGGHEAD!"

Eggman wasn't paying attention to the tentacle that lunged for him. Gooper easily wrapped it around his colossal stomach.

"Huh? YEOW!" he screamed as he was pulled near Sonic.

"That's what you get for being a helpless cheerleader!" the hedgehog jeered.

"Hey! I'll have you know I was the head leader of my cheerleading squad back in grade school! All the girls were entranced by my enthusiasm and flexibility!"

"Are you sure you didn't mean 'disturbed by wearing tight pants and your silly tutu'?" Knuckles mocked.

"It wasn't a tutu! It was a special kind of kilt!"

"We don't care what kind of uniform you wore. The point is, no girls would fall for you, your smarts, or your flexibility as you'd put it. And we're still stuck in these tentacles!" screamed Sonic.

Meanwhile, Gooper continued his harassment towards the others. He managed to grab Knuckles with his last oversized tentacle.

"Urgh! What's the big deal, ink boy?! I'm gonna… AAH!" The echidna got interrupted when the Blooper splattered ink on him. "Ugh! Gross!"

"We have to stop him somehow!" declared Yoshi.

"One of Gooper's weak spots is his mouth. We have to damage it somehow," considered Mario.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped to warn his friends.

Everyone looked down at the water's surface to see a horde of smaller Bloopers hurling Urchins at the ship.

"Duck!" Luigi squealed.

The robots noticed his stress call and jumped behind some barrels.

"Oh my! That was unexpected!" said Orbot.

Cubot popped his head up to sneak a peek, only for an Urchin to knock his processor and ruin his voice chip. "Argh! You're telling me, matey! He's gonna haunt the seven seas with his army of squids! And who knows what land rubbish he has up his sleeves!"

"Oh, boy. He's at it again."

"Luigi, maybe you can suck up the Urchins and aim at the tentacles to free our friends… and Eggman!"

"Wouldn't that ruin the vacuum though?"

"I don't think so, Yoshi. I've used the last version to shoot spiked plant balls at some carnivorous plants before. I'm sure Urchins can suffice. I just need to aim well to get the others out of his grasp and summon Overset so I can weaken him."

"Argh! If that's the plan, better keep your eyes open wide! 'Cause here comes some more!" Cubot pointed.

There, the plumbers, the dinosaur, and the Polterpup were bombarded with more Urchins. Luigi clicked the green button to activate a Shriek Shield to Mario and Yoshi while Colombo used his invisible ability again. The green man remained vulnerable as he sucked in a spiked enemy where it was stuck on the nozzle. He switched the control and blew the Urchin away. He managed to hit the tentacle holding Tails. Gooper shrieked in pain as he threw the unconscious fox back at the Shipwreck. Mario was there to catch him as he avoided more incoming Urchins.

"Orbot! Cubot! Keep an eye on Tails! _Don't_ even think about throwing him in the water or anything stupid like that!" he demanded.

The two nodded. They carried Tails into the ship to prevent him from getting further wounded. Mario, Yoshi, and Colombo teamed up to whack the unattended tentacle. Yoshi ground-pounded it onto the deck. Mario and Colombo pulled with force to detach the appendage. Gooper shook violently, as well as the other victims.

Sonic looked like he was going to barf. "Oh! I think I'm gonna be sick."

"Whatever you do, don't hurl on me!" warned Eggman.

Luigi spewed out more Urchins from his Poltergust where most of them missed Gooper, but knocked out some of the smaller Bloopers. A couple hurt Gooper's head, but one eventually smashed the mouth. Once the weak point was injured, the Possessor was forced out of the Blooper and regained his eyesight. Since Gooper was possessed, his body became limp and started to sink the ocean. Sonic called Luigi to hurry up before they become submerged.

On the ship's deck, the ghost glared at the group and aimed his charging attack at them. Mario, Yoshi, and Colombo ran away to manipulate his path to run into Luigi. The green man activated a last-second Shriek Shield to stun him. Then, Overset got struck with the Strobulb and was trapped by the Poltergust. With better suction power, Luigi took less time to eliminate the white skin.

Overset was now orange as he re-entered Gooper. Eggman, Knuckles, and Sonic were a few feet away from going underwater, but were brought back up as the boss repossessed the squid.

"Hey, Green 'Stache, at least let us free before you actually make us drown, you twit!" the doctor told him impolitely.

"Seriously, even _he's_ calling me that?" Luigi grumbled to himself.

He waited for the Bloopers to throw more Urchins. Once they did, he aimed one at the tentacle holding Sonic. When he was free, the other three executed the same procedure by ground pounding and pulling off the limb. The hedgehog got in on the action by spin dashing the tentacle into the water.

"Yeah! That's what I'm talking about! And thanks for getting me out of that!"

"Sonic, Tails is with Orbot and Cubot back inside the ship. We'll handle Overset and Gooper," Mario commanded.

"Alright. Good luck out there!" He ran into the cabin to find his best friend.

Luigi shot an Urchin near Knuckles and Gooper threw the echidna on the Shipwreck. When he landed, some random Evershade ghosts appeared on the deck to interfere with the group. In a quick move, he used three more Shriek Shields to guard Mario, Yoshi, and Knuckles. He wasn't risking the idea of them getting hurt. However, he only had one left, so he had to strategically save it for later. He focused on sucking up the smaller ghosts before going back to the Possessor. The remaining fighters repeated their strategy with Knuckles finishing off the third long tentacle.

"Luigi! You need to hit Gooper again!" Yoshi pleaded.

"Gotcha!" he shouted when he captured the last ghost. He ran up and waited for more Urchins to be thrown. He got one in position and aimed perfectly at the mouth. The Possessor exited out of the Blooper a second time, leaving Eggman alone in the middle of the ocean.

"I mean, you could have saved me before you decided to refight him! I see how it is, Greenie!"

Luigi rolled his eyes and prepared to dodge. The Possessor hit a couple walls on the boat before he became dizzy. That's when he took advantage and charged the Poltergust to full power to rip off the orange layer. As Overset beamed red, he returned to Gooper's body. However, he upped the ante by spitting tons of ink blots at the heroes. The deck became very slippery and could make them fall if they weren't careful. Knuckles punctured the Urchins tossed at him while Mario, Yoshi, and Colombo evaded the spiked organisms. Luigi nearly dodged the ink as if a bunch of Tenta Missiles locked in to destroy him. **_(3)_** He remained attentive, ignoring the screeches and taunts of Gooper and Overset. Another Urchin was launched from the 6000 and punctured Eggman's tentacle. The boss chucked the obese man onto the deck and crashed into an ink puddle.

"Bleck! Just great! This is my best and only outfit I wear!"

Knuckles made a face. "Don't be such a fashionista, Eggman!"

Eggman was about to protest, but Mario spoke before he could. "This isn't the time to argue! Just go to the cabin for safety! Your robots, Sonic, and Tails are inside."

"I couldn't care less about them. I only want to clean this goop off me!"

"And I thought Amy was more irritating when it comes to clothes…" the echidna shook his head.

"Knuckles! Watch out!" Yoshi pointed.

The tentacle that held Eggman was about to slap him, but Knuckles punched his sharp fists onto the floor. Mario and Colombo grabbed the appendage and disconnected it. Gooper was now in trouble as he only had his puny, useless tentacles left. All he could was spew more ink.

"Okay, time to end this!" Luigi shouted determinedly. He claimed another Urchin and perforated Gooper's mouth a third time.

The Blooper was immobile since Overset withdrew from him. Overset was flared up. He charged up his dash attack and floated quickly at his opponents. Knuckles dove away, Yoshi huddled up in an egg as defense, Mario jumped over the force field, Colombo disappeared, and Luigi simply ran away. The ghost flew into some barrels, making them fly overboard. He became dizzy from the collision and Luigi put him to rest. With the Poltergust powered up, the red-skinned Possessor was effectively trapped inside. The hose shook, and the purple fragment shot out of the vacuum.

"Nice going, Luigi! You got another Possessor down and another Dark Moon piece!" praised Mario.

"Yeah! You did great against him and Gooper! And I'm glad we all worked together!" Yoshi jumped with excitement.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo did a back flip.

"I must say, you sure knew how to show those stupid ghosts what the real deal is," Knuckles complimented, which he rarely does.

Luigi awkwardly smiled. "Thanks, guys. For the support and the help."

The five of them heard the door open and saw Sonic and a restored Tails. The inseparable duo ran up to them while Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot slowly strolled out.

"Way to go, everyone! Thanks for saving our butts out there. I would have been fish food!" Sonic threw his hands up.

"Yeah, it'd be bad to lose any of you. Well, maybe not Eggman," Mario whispered the last part to the hedgehog, earning a smirk from him.

"How polite of you guys to think of me," McNosehair expressed his sarcasm.

"Tails, do you feel okay?" asked Luigi.

"I am now! Sonic helped me with the Chaos Emeralds."

"And for some reason, they seemed to heal him this time. I just don't know why it didn't work the last time he was hurt," Sonic explained.

"Hmm, that is peculiar," Luigi agreed.

Suddenly, an unexpected, yet familiar, event happened. A lightning bolt flashed out of nowhere and struck the green man's chest.

"Urgh! Ooof!" He fell backwards as the Poltergust cushioned the fall, but it hurt his back.

"Luigi!" Mario was about to run up to him, until he ran into an invisible wall. "Huh?! Hey! Why am I stuck?" He soon noticed he was inside a barrier. He turned around to see the others caught in the same bubble. However, the Polterpup was missing, but only he noticed.

"What the heck is going on?" Sonic wondered as he bobbed his head left and right.

"I don't know!" Tails answered.

"Hey, does this seem familiar to you guys at all?" Orbot thought.

"You mean about us getting trapped again?" Cubot said in his normal voice since Eggman reluctantly fixed his voice chip again.

"Ooh… W-what h-happened?" Luigi stuttered. He sat up and his eyes became wide. "Mario! Sonic! Tails! Everyone!" He headed towards the bubble, but his body abruptly stopped. "Wha… W-why can't I… m-move?!"

Another lightning bolt was released towards him as he was immobile. When he used his last Shriek Shield to defend himself, it proved to be worthless. The electricity shot through to strike him in the chest.

"AAAAHHHH!"

"LUIGI!"

The younger brother was thrown overboard off the Haunted Shipwreck and splashed into the Sparkling Waters. Everyone was shocked, even Eggman.

"What is the meaning of this?!"

Subsequently, Knuckles saw a familiar face from above. "Guys! It's him!"

Everyone tilted their heads up and went wide-eyed. Mario, Sonic, Robotnik, and Knuckles showed fury. Tails, Yoshi, Cubot, and Orbot expressed fright.

"So, I've heard you've had some help with… _Chaos Emeralds_? Well then. Since I'm done with my _revenge_ , I think I'll take you guys with me."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _The Overset Possessor has been defeated, but this battle didn't conclude as a fulfilled victory. With Luigi abused and separated, Colombo missing, and the rest of the party kidnapped, what will happen next?_

 _As a reminder, one more chapter of Hidden Bravery will be released as soon as I go back to school. Then, the story will either be updated every two weeks, or once a month depending on how busy my schedule is._

 _Please review, follow/favorite, and keep your eyes open for Ch. 35. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Baldy McNosehair, a very clever and funny name to make fun of Eggman. It originated in Sonic Colors when Yacker, a Wisp, expressed his hatred towards the doctor, which was translated by Tails. (The 'Mc' part was later added on by Sonic, but either way it's hilarious when they refer Eggman by that name.)_

 ** _(2):_** _Gooper Blooper made his debut in Mario Sunshine as a boss Mario had to face thrice; twice in Ricco Harbor, once in Noki Bay. He was added in various sports and spin-off games (i.e.- Mario Super Sluggers, Mario Hoops 3-on-3, Paper Mario: Sticker Star, and more)._

 ** _(3):_** _Tenta Missiles is one of the 'Special Weapons' in Splatoon 2, which locks ink targets on the opposing team's members to potentially splat them. The idea of Gooper spewing ink in this action originates from this aspect, just not in the form of missiles._


	36. Ch 35: Rising Frustrations

_A/N:_ _Last chapter of the month, and uploaded on my first day back to school. Joy. Again, I'm going to hope I can upload every two weeks. I'm not planning to put this story on hiatus unless I find it necessary._

 _As for our story, more swearing is included in this chapter. I hope I'm not going overboard on this. But that's why it's rated T._

 _Finally, special shoutouts to Steel Fairy, Tiger of Darkness, and TemUltimate for helping this story reach **100+ reviews**! Not only that, but  HB has accumulated over **7** **000 hits**! Thank you, everyone!_

 ** _*NOTE: Another PCN is added to the list, found at the bottom. I also had to edit the numbers._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _The plot and my OCs belong to me. Mario and Sonic belong to Nintendo and Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 35:** Rising Frustrations

 _Location: Outside of Toad Town_

Previously, Luigi vanquished Gooper Blooper and the Overset Possessor to claim the fourth moon fragment. But before the heroes could return to E. Gadd's lab along with Yoshi, Knuckles, Eggman, and his robot henchmen, they were waylaid by Myster Edge, who found out about the remaining Chaos Emeralds he was seeking.

A cruiser landed near the rubble remains of the skewer fortress. From there, Edge forced the five mentioned above, alongside Tails, Mario, and Sonic inside the vehicle. To make matters worse, he busted up the Mushroom Copter with his lightning powers, burning the vehicle to a crisp. The eight hostages were confronted by some large Shadelings, as well as Alpha who manned the ship. _**(1)** _ The Omega clone set a course to Toad Town.

Once they left Sparkling Waters, the minions took the yellow and green Emeralds, as well as Sonic and Tails' communicators, which by no means can the duo contact anyone. After handing the prized gems to their leader, they locked the octet up in a separate room. Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles were on a bench while Mario, Yoshi, Orbot, and Cubot were sitting across from them. Meanwhile, Eggman was banging his fists against the door, attempting to get out.

"Where are you taking us?! I demand you to tell me, you dirty bum-bots!"

"Would you zip your big mouth up, Egghead?! They're not going to listen to you, nor let us out!" Sonic groaned at his direction.

"And frankly, you're going to hurt yourself if you try ramming into the door," warned Orbot.

"Yeah! Not even your weight is big enough to dismantle the lock!" Cubot mentioned, earning a grunt from the doctor.

"Where are they even taking us?" Yoshi wondered as he gazed out the window.

Mario, sitting next to him, inspected the land outside. "We're heading towards Toad Town. I can see Peach's Castle from afar."

"But why would the shadow dude bring us there? What's the point in that?" Knuckles shook his head.

"Could he want to return to Mobius? He could use our Chaos Emeralds to access the warp pipe again," believed Tails.

"But Luigi and I heard him talking about heading to Star Hill once he got his hands on all seven Chaos Emeralds. Star Hill is miles away from Toad Town, though. It's closer to Yoshi's Island and Vanilla Dome," Mario reasoned, not understanding the logic.

"And worst of all, he _does_ have all seven Emeralds! Which makes this absolutely bad for all the wrong reasons!" Sonic sputtered out.

Mario resumed thinking. "If he does want to return to Mobius, then the only reason I could come up with is to use us as bait."

"Bait?" the robots repeated.

"You know, kidnap us to lure Luigi into Sonic's world. Edge initially captured all of you and split you up so we could waste time rescuing everyone as his army searched for the Chaos Emeralds. The Grouchy Possessor took me to coax Luigi in the Vanilla Dome to fight him. They're using us as a distraction so that they can use the time for Edge to summon the Oblivion."

"Which reminds me, Silver, Shadow, and the Chaotix are still nowhere to be found. I don't know if they were brought to Mobius, or if they're still stuck in this dimension," Tails put a hand to his chin.

Something snapped into Knuckles' mind. "Hold on, didn't you say that shadow guy sent those white, large ghosts to areas where they held us prisoner?"

"I mean, it appears to be," Mario replied.

"What if another one is in our home world?"

Tails seemed to understand where the echidna was going, but he was more surprised that he thought of something smart. "Maybe that's why the Professor couldn't locate the missing Dark Moon piece. If the next Possessor has the fragment hidden in our world, then that's the next place Luigi needs to go!"

Mario agreed. "We need to warn him about this, now."

"But how? They confiscated our communicators, Mario," Sonic mentioned.

"I don't know. But there has to be a way!"

"Can't we ask the princess to help?" Yoshi thought.

"We probably shouldn't. If I get her involved, she'll probably be abducted again. And you know how tiring it is to save Peach, for both her and me."

"Well, what other choice do we have, plumber?" Eggman retorted. "Either Blondie or one those girls gets your green guy to come rescue us, _again_ , or we can suffer as washed up bones when that purple freak obliterates everything! And I can't go back to my evil plans of taking over the universe!"

Mario stood up and confronted the tall human with a dark glare. "You know, Sonic's right. Sometimes, you need to shut your fucking big mouth, Eggwad."

"Grr… It's not Egg _wad_ , nor Egg _head_! For the last time, it's Egg _man_!"

"Like anyone cares at this point," he rolled his eyes. "Oh, and Bowser's already beaten you at the whole 'Ruling the Universe' shit twice. Why don't you step up your game? That is, if you can even do something productive."

Everyone was surprised to hear Mario talk like this. Eggman was more on the infuriated side.

"I don't need to hear you roasting me, pudgy! And right now, I could care less about that Koopa! All I want is to get out of here!"

"Well, too bad. We're stuck, and it's going to stay that way until we get off," Mario muttered and walked away from him. He leaned forward onto the back wall, resting his forehead on his arm. Sonic got off the bench and stood behind his friend.

"Dude, I get mad at Eggman many times, but I've never seen you go apeshit on him before. Heck, you weren't that hostile towards Bowser earlier," he whispered.

Mario didn't turn to look at him. He mumbled quietly, but loud enough for the hedgehog to hear. "I didn't do that to act like I'm some sort of badass. I'm just frustrated. I just watched my brother get shoved into the water, and there was nothing I could do. Knowing how much Edge did to him, I don't want him to harm anyone else. Not the princess, not you guys, not my other friends, and not even Eggman. But I swear, Edge will pay again for ruining the only family I have. And if he crosses that line one more time, I'm going to end that son of a bitch for good."

To say Sonic was worried for Mario was a fact. The red plumber has expressed fury over the last week of unfortunate events, but not to this extent. There was something burning in his heart that's causing him to behave contrarily to his positive attitude. That something, was retribution. Retribution against Myster Edge, for the wrongs and acts he did to attack Mobius, the Mushroom Kingdom, and most of all, his brother.

"Mario-"

"Please, Sonic. I just want to be alone."

The Blue Blur slouched his shoulders, feeling bad that he couldn't help Mario again. He closed his eyes, sighed, and went back to his seat next to the kitsune. Tails stared at his friend, who appeared to be mentally defeated.

"Sonic?" he hesitantly spoke.

His eyelids opened to see Tails' worried, blue pupils. "Yeah, buddy?"

"What are we going to do?"

Normally, Sonic would improvise an answer right on the spot. But given the scenario they're in, he frowned, unsure of himself. "I… I don't know, Tails," he replied honestly.

Silence remained in the locked room as all eight prisoners were exhausted and helpless to escape. Without Luigi, or any other assistance, it was quite a pickle for the gang to be in.

As for the antagonists, Alpha guided the cruiser to their desired location.

"Myster Edge. We shall arrive at the center of Toad Town in circa three minutes."

"Perfect. Minions," he referred to the four individuals behind him and Alpha. "I want you to take them to Shrewd's hiding place, the Chemical Plant Zone. **_(2)_** I like to see that green mustache try going through that toxic wasteland without drowning in the water or getting crushed by the machinery there."

"You've basically drowned him in the Sparkling Waters, though," reminded Alpha.

"You're right. But, I wasn't planning on killing him. I still need him for my master plan of resurrection. I decided to play nice and only give him a couple of minor shocks."

"So why'd you send him overboard in the ocean?"

"Hey, my trajectory was apparently off by a couple feet. Just forget about it, and get back to driving this ship."

Alpha bleeped out a sigh. "Yes, sire."

"Shadelings, grab the captives again. We're about to disembark."

"Yes, sir!" they saluted.

One of them opened the door, getting everyone's attention. "Listen up! You're going to be detained as we take you to our next destination. Anyone who refuses to our leader's orders, or tries to retaliate against him will be officially terminated. Pair yourself up with someone and line up in front of one of us. You'll remain in custody until we imprison you."

"Again?! Listen here, bozo!" Eggman pointed his finger against his metal chest. "I've been stuck on that damn pirate ship like a dirty landlubber who doesn't know how to cook basic oatmeal for the captain! You expect me to be forced into one of your stupid prisons aga-"

Eggman didn't finish as the robot whipped out a flamethrower he uncovered from his right arm. "Do you want to continue?"

Eggman stood there, glaring at him as he couldn't defend himself. "Fine, you win. For now," he slurred the last sentence.

"Now, choose a companion and head outside as each of us will supervise you."

Yoshi stood up from his seat and walked near Mario who was still leaning against the wall in shame and irritation. He put a hand on his shoulder to comfort his buddy, and to indicate who was his partner. Sonic and Tails didn't spend a second to decide who they're with. Orbot and Cubot blinked at each other and shrugged.

"Aw, screw this! I have to be paired up with Fatass Loudmouth over here?!" Eggman turned his head to Knuckles and growled.

* * *

 _Location: Peach's Castle_

The Mushroom Princess was finished putting away her clothing and groceries. She went back downstairs to wait for Mario and the others to return after another long adventure. She saw Daisy and Amy standing with Cream and Cheese sitting on the edge of the fountain, having a conversation.

"Hello, everyone," Peach greeted.

Daisy turned around and smiled. "Hi, Peach."

"What are you girls talking about?"

"Oh, just wondering how to help the heroes," Cream answered.

"Chao! Chao!" Cheese added.

"Yeah, it's just been this as we're anticipating their return. And thanks for bringing us to the spa! You were right about the service there! It was spectacular!"

"You're welcome, Amy," Peach giggled. "So, Mario and the others must still be at Sparkling Waters, huh?"

"Well, you never know," shrugged Daisy. "They could be done and fly back to E. Gadd's lab."

"That is possible, unless-"

Amy got interrupted by the purple cat. "Guys! Guys!"

The five saw Blaze, Toad, and Toadette running into the backyard garden, all with desperate looks.

"Everyone, calm down! What's wrong?" Peach asked.

"Toadsworth told us to warn you about something bad!" Toad panicked, flailing his arms.

"Something bad?" Cream stood up from the fountain.

"You guys won't believe what happened!" Toadette curled her hands into fists, placing them in front of her cheeks.

"Get to the point already!" Daisy demanded.

"It's Mario, Sonic, and the others. They got captured by the shadow figure," Blaze hissed.

"What?!" they all gasped.

"Follow us this way!" The cat waved her hand, leading everyone to the front window where they saw Toadsworth standing in front of a stained-glass window.

"Toadsworth! Where's Mario?"

He turned around to the Toads and the girls. "Princess! It's absolutely horrid! See for yourself!"

Everyone gathered around to see the front of the castle. Peach, Daisy, Amy, Cream, and Cheese had their mouths wide open in shock as the others remained staring at the scene. There, they saw the eight prisoners held by Edge's robots, standing near the Mushroom Warp Pipe.

"Oh no! They're in trouble!" Cream cried.

"Why isn't anyone helping them?!" Peach asked her advisor.

"That scoundrel immobilized the Toad population so they wouldn't interfere with him! Luckily, it didn't work on us since we were safe inside the castle," said Toadsworth.

"Hold on. Where's Luigi? And his Polterpup?" Daisy asked anxiously.

"We don't know! They weren't with them when they exited Edge's ship!" Toadette clarified.

"Speaking of Edge, there's that scheming villain," Blaze narrowed her eyes.

The others gazed over at the cruiser where they did see the Shadow Spirit, the one who kidnapped them on the night of Luigi's birthday. He was floating over with his prized scepter, containing six Chaos Emeralds.

"Oh no! Edge has taken Sonic's green Emerald!" Amy shrieked.

"Wait, where's the yellow one then?" Peach wondered.

Her question was answered when Edge brought it out of his black cloak. He placed the Emerald into the slot and turned to the kitsune.

"You. Give me the password that unlocks this pipe," he demanded.

"And if I refuse to?" Tails challenged him.

"Then I will single-handedly restrain you to harsher consequences, worse than what I've done to your stupid, green friend."

Tails glared at the villain. Mario copied his look under the basis that Edge doesn't give a damn about his brother. Not wanting to make the situation any worse, the fox muttered the code to Edge. The shadow nodded and typed the password into the keyboard. The pipe door unlocked afterwards.

"Alright, everyone. Take them to their new prison. Alpha and I will head to my destined location."

"Yes, Myster Edge!" the Shadelings followed his command and entered inside with the group in tow.

"We gotta do something!" Toad told the others.

"I'll give the Professor a call. Maybe he knows where Luigi is," Peach offered before she ran away to find a phone.

"Oh my god. I don't feel so good right now." Daisy looked like she was going to faint. She had to be held by Blaze and the Toads.

"I can't believe Sonic and the others were kidnapped! No one takes my Sonic away from me!" Amy grunted.

"And Tails, too!" yelled Cream.

"Chao, Chao Chao!" whined Cheese.

"Edge has all the Emeralds, Luigi's not here, everyone's flustered… This is _not_ good at all," Blaze grumbled.

* * *

 _Location: Sparkling Waters_

Nothing could be heard. It was complete darkness and dead silence. It was eerily quiet for the person as if he were dead. However, a small, faint sound appeared. It sounded like whimpering. The sad noises had a distinct sound coming from the source. Like a ghostly echo.

Wait, _ghostly_?

That's when the person realized. His heart was still beating; he was still alive. But where was he? What happened? And who was whimpering in the background?

His closed eyes twitched, his head shook, his arms struggled to move. The whimpering stopped for a moment as the man slowly opened his eyes to reveal blue pupils. He blinked twice as his vision came back. The first thing he saw was the orange sky.

Hold on. _Orange_? But it was blue before. Then, he thought. How long has it been? Did it just turn into the evening now?

His eyes bulged wide open and sat up quickly. He rotated his head and viewed his surroundings. Apparently, he was sitting in the sand. Within a mile, he saw rising geysers, Huckit Crabs, pipes, and, of course, water. He assumed he's back at Waterspout Beach. But how?

"Arf! Arf!"

The man quickly shifted his head to his left. There he spotted the Polterpup, who looked up to him with a concerned face and a slight whimper.

"C-Colombo?"

The dog barked once more and ran his paw on Luigi's leg.

"Colombo? What happened? Why are we back on the beach? Weren't we on the… ghost ship…?"

Luigi had another epiphany. His memory recollected on the events after defeating Gooper Blooper and besting the Overset Possessor. He got struck by a lightning bolt. Then, his friends, Eggman, and his robots were trapped in a purple bubble. He tried to run towards them, but he was suddenly frozen. As he was stalled, he was attacked by another bolt which made him fall overboard from the Shipwreck. And that was the last thing he reminisced since he splashed into the ocean.

The green man narrowed his eyes in ire. He instantly knew where those lightning attacks came from.

"Edge… That conniving, evil-spirited… Augh!"

Luigi pounded his right fist in the sand. It made Polterpup jump back. He muttered a swear word in Italian to himself, releasing a depressing sigh afterwards.

"Sorry, cagnetto. I didn't mean to lose my temper there. I don't show it that often. But what he just did to me and my friends… He's going to pay. He's going to pay for what he's done. Not just to me, but to everyone in our world and Sonic's."

Colombo walked back to him and nudged his head in his lap. He whimpered as he watched his owner staring aimlessly at nothing.

Luigi looked down to him. "Colombo, did you… happen to save me from drowning?"

Colombo bobbed his head 'yes'.

"You turned invisible and avoided being stuck in Edge's trap. And you probably jumped off the Shipwreck to find me. You dragged my body here, is that right?"

He received another silent nod from him.

"Do you know where the others are, at least?"

This time, Colombo whined and shut his eyes in regret. Luigi frowned. He presumed that the purple shadow took the captives away from the scene of the crime. That meant Knuckles, Yoshi, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot were still held against their wills. But to add insult to injury, his Mobian friends and brother were abducted, as well.

And that's what made him worry the most.

He tried using his 3DS to contact Tails. But when he didn't receive a reply, he linked to Sonic's communicator. Once again, there was nothing. He presumed that their devices were either disabled, destroyed, or confiscated. He couldn't call Knuckles, he wouldn't even think twice to call Eggman since he doesn't have his contact, and Mario didn't have a phone on him. There was no way to find out where they're at now.

Luigi stood up and dusted the sand off his overalls. "Well, boy, we're gonna have to go back to Boo Woods and tell the professor, unfortunately. And the princess is not going to like hearing about this. Come on, Colombo. At least Toadsworth gave me a spare key for the helicopter."

The Polterpup's face fell since he knew that Edge destroyed the Mushroom Copter. Luigi didn't know, until he climbed the ladder to reach the three-way intersection. Worst case scenario, he was utterly distressed when he saw the damaged vehicle.

"Oh, Mamma Mia! You've got to be kidding me!" He removed his cap and ran a hand through his hair, scrunching up the ends with a tight fist. He sighed heavily and put his hat back on his head. "Things can't get any worse right now, can't it?" He swore in Italian to himself again.

Colombo was very sorry for his owner, and he continued to whimper.

"I'm sorry for acting like this again, boy. _Sigh_ , looks like I need to call-"

E. Gadd's ringtone played from the 3DS in his pocket.

"To be honest, I hate when he does that," Luigi shook his head. "Hello?" he responded with depression leaking from his voice.

"Gee, what's with the upside-down smile and the tone, young feller?"

"Professor, this isn't the time for jokes. Please get the Pixelator up and running. Colombo and I need a ride back to your lab."

E. Gadd frowned. "But what about the Mushroom Copter? And why just you and Polterpup? Where's your brother and your furry friends?"

"Long story short, Edge ambushed us and separated me from Mario. Those who were held in the Haunted Shipwreck are still captured by Edge, and he has taken them somewhere else. He also destroyed the helicopter." Luigi paused and shifted his communicator for the elderly man to see the wreckage.

"Oh my goodness… That's horrible," was how E. Gadd responded.

Luigi sighed yet again. "Now that you know, please send us back."

"Okay, Luigi. One Pixelator coming at you and Colombo."

E. Gadd didn't say this enthusiastically knowing that Luigi seemed miserable; plus, he felt bad for him. Nonetheless, he ended the call and a Pixelator appeared from the 3DS. The two characters transformed into pixels and were sent into the screen, making the long journey back to Boo Woods.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Not the best way to end this part before starting another year of school. Believe me, I felt upset after writing this. Nonetheless, Luigi will experience some revelations on where his journey leads to next (although you guys already know). Can he turn things around before they get even worse? And how close will Edge be to bring the Oblivion to all worlds now that he has possession of all seven Chaos Emeralds?_

 _Please stay tuned every two weeks for new chapters. I'm planning for this to be the new upload schedule, but bear with me if I don't get them in on time. I'll make a personal update if necessary._

 _Otherwise, thanks for sticking around this far into the adventure. Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you in Ch. 36. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I forgot I used this made-up name to describe the robots Shadow fought back in Ch. 5. I decided to go back and edit in their names in some of the previous chapters, but not all of them since they're not that important. But I figured I should use this name more often rather than just 'robots' or 'minions'. Just note that they're just standard underling clones and not as distinct as Alpha, Clawdio, Slimmer, etc._

 ** _(2):_** _Chemical Plant Zone is the second Zone from Sonic 2, which made a return in Sonic Mania. This is the next location where Luigi must rescue the gang and confront the Shrewd Possessor._


	37. Ch 36: The New Recruits

_A/N: Celebrated my birthday last weekend, and I had fun with my friends and family. But now it's that time of year... _

_We shall never forget. God bless the brave souls who sacrificed their lives 16 years ago. God bless everyone. God bless America._

 _On another note, I hope everyone down south is recovering from Hurricane Harvey. And for those in Florida, the southeast, and in the affected islands, I give my blessings to you to stay strong and be safe._

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I don't own anything but my OCs and the story idea._

* * *

 **Chapter 36:** The New Recruits

 _Location: E. Gadd's Lab_

A couple minutes elapsed since the call between the professor and the green plumber ended. _**(1)**_ Sitting in his high chair, E. Gadd was holding the joystick button to teleport Luigi and Colombo to his bunker. As he waited for their arrival, Zephyr floated to him, carrying a phone with someone on the other line. The professor held the device to his ear.

"Hello?"

"Professor! It's me, Princess Peach," she urgently answered.

"Your Majesty. What are you here to talk about?"

"It's about Luigi. Where is he?"

"I'm bringing him back to my lab through the Pixelator."

"The Pixelator? But what about the Mushroom Copter?"

"Luigi told me that Edge damaged it. You should make a note to Toadsworth about this. Although he's probably not going to like it one bit. Hope he has insurance on that."

"Oh, my… I'll tell him as soon as I can. Just please keep the phone on until Luigi appears. Daisy's worried sick and we just found out that Mario, Sonic, and Tails were taken by Edge, alongside the others who were trapped in Sparkling Waters."

"Don't worry, Princess. I'll be on hold. I don't think the Pixelator will be malfunctioning this time… Oh! Here they come right now!"

Several colored cubes emitted out of the camera and the two bodies reformed to normal. Colombo and Luigi landed perfectly on the floor without falling.

Luigi wiped off the sweat from his forehead. "Thanks, Professor."

E. Gadd nodded at him. "Princess, Luigi is back. Would you like to talk to him?"

"Yes, please. I'm also back with Toadsworth and the girls," she replied as she approached them. Toad and Toadette were absent because they quickly ran to the kitchen to brew the flower princess some Mushroom Tea, considering how horrible she felt.

"Well? What's the news?" Amy asked.

Peach lowered the phone from her ear, and covered the receiver with her hand. "Luigi's safe and returned to the lab," she smiled.

Daisy exhaled a sigh of relief. Toadsworth, Blaze, Cream, Cheese, and Amy were glad, as well.

"Hello?" Luigi's voice muffled.

"Luigi! Are you okay?"

He excused himself into the hallway away from the professor and the ghosts. "Not really," he responded truthfully. "Princess, I'm so sorry!"

"Sorry?" she furrowed her eyebrows. Everyone seemed concerned after hearing his apology.

"I was caught off guard, and I couldn't help Mario. And because of that, he, Sonic, Tails, and everyone from the ship are in deeper trouble. This is all my fault!" he cried.

"What? Why?" Peach was getting worried for her green friend.

Daisy grabbed the phone away from her. "Luigi! What exactly happened?"

The man in green described the dastardly events since he captured the Overset Possessor and recovered the fourth moon piece. The party listened to him on speaker and were shocked about Edge's ambush.

Amy was both concerned and infuriated. "I can't believe that dirty shadow did that to you guys!"

"But you're still fine, right, Mr. Luigi?" asked Cream.

"Sort of. But no. I should've done something, and I couldn't!"

"Luigi, this is not your fault," Peach dictated. "Don't discourage yourself from this."

"I'm sorry… B-But I can't help but feel guilty about this."

"Please don't. For your own sake and ours, too."

Luigi spent the next several seconds trying to recompose. He took some deep breaths, gulped some air, and exhaled calmly.

"Now listen, Luigi. Clean the Dark Moon piece like you've done with the others. When you're finished, please head back to the castle. I'd like to arrange a meeting on what we should do next."

"Do you want me to invite E. Gadd along? I mean, I technically dragged him into this mess."

"Yes, he can join. As well as Zephyr and Polterpup."

"Hold on, Peach. Let me talk to him," requested Amy. The princess gave the phone to her. "Luigi, it's me. Do you have the Dark Moon piece?"

"Yeah. I still have it in my pocket."

"Has it ever shown an image of something? Like the last one when we saw the Haunted Shipwreck in the Sparkling Waters?"

"As of now, no. I don't feel any strong energy radiating from it."

"Do you know how long it will take for it to happen? Or when it might pop up?"

"I can't predict that. The foreshadowing images appear at random times, from what it looks like. But I can say that they only happen before they get cleaned off."

"Okay. Well, I would hold onto that piece before you give it to the Professor and put it on his… Supreme-thingy, or whatever it's called. Maybe it'll depict the location of the next hidden Possessor ghost. And I can bet a thousand rings that's where Edge's robots have taken Sonic, Mario, and everyone else."

"I will, Amy. But it could take a while for it to give me a clue. And it'll probably be dark by the time we could even discuss the matters at hand."

"Hmm… how about we head to Boo Woods and discuss there, instead of you guys coming over to Peach's Castle? We can at least rest in the mansion for the night once we're done conversing."

"I mean, is everyone okay with that?"

"Hold on a minute." The female hedgehog removed the phone away from her ear. "Do you guys mind if we head to the professor's lab for the night?"

"I suppose that's another way to deal with the situation," considered Blaze.

"And I would like to see Mr. Luigi's big mansion!" Cream replied.

"Chao Chao!" Cheese cheered.

Daisy nodded. "As long as I get to see Luigi again, I'm fine with any decision. What about you, Peach?"

"If it's for the best and to not waste a lot of time, I'll have to agree to it. Do you mind at all, Toadsworth?"

"Hmm…" the elderly Toad scratched his head. "I'll allow it. Just make sure you girls are relatively safe from any unexpected danger from your stroll to Boo Woods. I'll have to stay here to make sure the castle remains secure under all circumstances."

"We'll be sure of it," Peach assured him.

"So we're all set?" Amy received nods from everyone. She returned to the phone call. "Alright, Luigi. We're coming over there as soon as possible."

"Okay. We'll see you soon."

"And Luigi… Thank goodness you're with us, at least."

That made him smile a little. "Thanks, Amy."

They gave their goodbyes before hanging up. Luigi walked back into the main lab where the three individuals gave him concerned looks.

Zephyr floated to him and gave him a reassuring pat on the back. Colombo walked up and wagged his tail, hoping it could make his owner happy. Luigi expressed a small grin at first, but it disappeared almost immediately. E. Gadd stepped forward to ask the green man a question.

"I assume you want some time to yourself?"

He sighed. "That, and the girls are going to visit the bunker so we can discuss what to do. For now, I still want to wait if an image will pop up on the Dark Moon piece before we restore it."

The professor nodded, understanding the circumstances. "Alright, young chap. I'm going to tidy up the lab while we wait. Before I do though, I'll take the Poltergust, recharge the Shriek Shield counter, and send the captured ghosts into the canister downstairs. Zephyr, please brew some tea for our friend and the arriving guests."

The Greenie nodded and made his way to the kitchen. E. Gadd helped the younger brother take the vacuum off his back. Once the professor left the room, Luigi decided to rest at the table. He took a seat, folded his arms, and laid his head down. Colombo jumped up to the seat next to him and stared at the sleeping human. He made a small noise before laying down to take a nap as well.

* * *

Slowly opening his eyes, Luigi woke up in a deserted area. He got into a sitting position, and rubbed his head. When he snapped to reality, he felt that something was _definitely_ off. And the answer was the first thing he saw.

He looked up and noticed the sky.

 _"What the hell?"_

What was wrong with it, you might ask? It was purple. Dark. Mysterious. Ominous, to say the least. It was so peculiar, but familiar to him. The hero felt like he was back in the Void where the castle of a former count stood tall. But he wasn't at Castle Bleck nor inside the Void. He assumed only one logical explanation.

He was back in the Oblivion.

But, was this a hallucination, or a dream? Was Edge manipulating with his mind again? Or did he truly bring the Oblivion to the real world? Thinking for a bit, Luigi refused to believe so.

Then again, he was aware that the Shadow Spirit captured Sonic and Tails, which led to the idea that he stole the last two Chaos Emeralds. He also remembered overhearing Edge's plan on visiting Star Hill, the coveted location where he said he was to summon the dark hole there. Like the Void, it would probably be floating high in the skies of all worlds and dimensions. And if it's possible to be inside the darkness, there had to be a way to prevent the phenomenon from consuming everyone and everything.

The question is, how? Not only that, why was he here again?

The plumber twitched his head when he heard something.

"Hey, w-who's there?" he stuttered in a nervous voice.

He looked left and right, in front of and behind him. But there was nothing but a mix of purple clouds and darkness. He finally stood up, still nervous at the thought of someone creeping up behind him. He hoped it was only Colombo, real or imaginary. But he couldn't detect his presence within the region.

The same noise Luigi heard occurred again.

"Okay… This isn't funny, whoever or whatever you are! C-Come out! I know you're h-here!"

Again, he huddled his fists close to his chest and shivered in fear.

 _"Come on, Luigi. Why do you have to be such a scaredy-cat?"_ he mocked himself.

He decided to walk forward, cautiously looking at his surroundings to expect the unexpected. A random ghost could appear and spook the crap out of him. Colombo could somehow find his owner by barking at him. Or maybe Myster Edge can surprise him with another lightning strike. Either way, Luigi was not comfortable whatsoever.

Although minutes have passed, no signs of danger popped out to frighten Luigi. However, he did come across a land of some familiar looking pieces. More specifically, _Dark Moon pieces_. To further elaborate, _copies_ of them. He remembered them from his first nightmare.

"These must be the Dark Shards Edge was talking about. They must have made hundreds or even thousands of copies of the broken Dark Moon fragments. And their energy, their negative energy, must be vital to not only give Edge more power, but to combine that with the Chaos Emeralds to summon the Oblivion. And they were probably transported here to fasten the pace for obliteration." He paused for a moment. "Man, I'm starting to think like Tails for a bit. Is this what he usually does?"

For the third time, the Italian heard the sound and flinched. Only this time, he detected a dim light from several feet away. It wasn't a white light like before, which led to Edge appearing in front of him. Instead, it was a dark glow, coming from a different source. Curious, yet afraid, Luigi slowly lifted his head and spotted a figure. He froze and stared at the entity. The figure was already in view from head to toe. He wasn't as tall nor slim as Myster Edge. And he didn't look like _him_ from the previous bad dream. However, he looked very familiar. He was shorter and a bit rounder than the younger Mario brother.

"H-Hello?" he stammered. _"Wait, why am I even asking that?"_

The figure soon revealed his eyes. They were bloodshot red, making Luigi blink and freeze from the cold stare. And just when things couldn't be more disturbing, the shadow came from out of nowhere and floated beside the mysterious individual.

 _"Not him again_ , _"_ his mind filled with rage and distress.

"Get ready to attack. I have to go to desperate measures against this green fool. If he dares to stop me, I'll force him to face someone I know he wouldn't hurt. And that's where _you_ come in," Edge spoke to the entity.

"And I will follow your orders, Myster Edge," the person replied.

Luigi bulged his eyes open when he heard him speak. He could only know one person with that distinct voice.

 _"N-No… Is it…"_

Before Luigi could finish his thoughts, the shadow quickly drifted his gaze and sought the target. "There he is! Now go get him!"

"As you wish."

The other enemy dashed forward at the green man. Luigi reacted late, but ran away. If only he was as fast as the Blue Blur, he would at least have a chance to evade him. Then, he clumsily tripped and fell near a pile of shards. When he got up, he found himself surrounded by a ring of fire. He flipped on his back and stared at the person, frightened. He broke off a crystal from the heap, and pointed the sharp edge at Luigi's chest.

The green hero stretched his hand out with pleading eyes. "P-Please, don't kill me! Don't you know who I am?!"

The next thing the figure said made Luigi's heart break. "No. But I hope you enjoy your demise." Soon after that, he raised the shard as he was about to impale the helpless man.

"NOOOOO!"

* * *

"Luigi! Luigi!"

"HUH?! WHOA!"

Luigi woke up from his horrid dream. Unfortunately, it caused him to fall backwards and off his chair, hitting the ceramic floor. Colombo yipped and jumped off his chair when he saw his owner hurt.

"Ohhh… Mamma Mia…" he groaned.

"Oh my god! I'm so sorry!" the female voice spoke again.

He shook his head and was surprised to see everyone surrounding him. Peach, Amy, Cream, Cheese, Blaze, Rouge, and Daisy, the one who woke Luigi up, were standing over him with vexed looks. Rouge rejoined the group when Blaze contacted her, much to the bat's disappointment after spending her day admiring jewels.

"W-When did you g-guys get here?" he stumbled.

"A few minutes ago," answered Amy. "The professor let us in when he was busy cleaning up. We walked in, only to find you having some kind of nightmare from what it looked like."

"Are you alright, Luigi?" Daisy kneeled to him.

"I… guess so. Edge didn't summon the Oblivion, has he?"

"Um, no. At least we don't think so."

"It'd probably look like the Void if it was floating in the sky. But so far, we haven't seen a sign of it. Nothing suspicious or ominous yet," added Peach.

"But we can expect it to appear soon now that the shadow has all seven Chaos Emeralds," muttered Blaze.

"And to think, I could have had one in my hands right now," Rouge crossed her arms.

"Get over it, Rouge. Like you had a chance against a demon," Amy rolled her eyes.

Rouge scoffed and turned her head away.

"So, did you at least get one of the vision things from the moon?" Cream wondered.

"No, I haven't-" Luigi paused when he felt energy emitting from the corrupted fragment. He pulled it out of his pocket, and an image started to appear on one of the faces. "Now it's happening."

The girls gathered around Luigi and waited for the scene to be lucid. Once it did, it featured the Chemical Plant Zone. Blue goop, machine-driven enemies, pipes, ducts, and mechanical terrain were found throughout the factory. And within the deepest depths of the complex location, they found Knuckles, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot inside a cage, hanging over a river of pink, toxic water. Yoshi, Tails, Sonic, and Mario were in a separate prison beside them.

"There they are! It's the Chemical Plant Zone Sonic and Tails went through," Amy pointed out.

"That water reminds of the purple acid water from Soda Jungle," Peach gulped.

"It's not only toxic, but dangerous to fall in," concluded Blaze.

"Ah, so you're all here now." Everyone looked up to see E. Gadd. Zephyr floated next to him while holding a tray of tea cups and a hot kettle. As the Greenie handed out drinks to everyone, E. Gadd spoke again. "Anyways, have you managed to find the next location of the Dark Moon piece?"

"Yep, it's the Chemical Plant Zone," said Amy.

E. Gadd fixed his glasses and rubbed the inside of his ear. "Excuse me? Did I hear that right? You said the Chemical Plant Zone?" The group nodded at him. "So that's why I couldn't detect that piece's location. My radar could only search within the Mushroom Kingdom, not Sonic's home world!"

"And they have to be rescued before that creepy guy takes over everything!" Cream pleaded. Cheese agreed with the rabbit.

"I might as well go soon," Luigi said determinedly.

"But, Luigi! Shouldn't you at least rest? We heard you nearly drowned from Edge again!" Daisy stopped him.

"Yeah, you need time to recover. We even agreed to stay at the mansion before you could depart," stated Amy.

Then, Luigi pinned a serious question to the pink hedgehog. "If you were put into my shoes, wouldn't you want to rescue Sonic as soon as possible, though? Think about it. Both him and Mario are more determined and braver than I am. They wouldn't bear to go on a break when there's imminent danger. And after what went down, there's no time to waste. Things have gotten progressively worse to the point where we have to make sacrifices and persevere through tough tasks. We need to find a way to stop that damn shadow before it's too late!"

Everyone was shocked to hear Luigi speak like this. They didn't say a word as he continued speaking.

"I'm sorry I'm being vindictive, but I can't stand the fact that our friends are in trouble. And I could care less about Eggman since he's not the main issue. The point is, I want to rescue them so they wouldn't have to deal with the same kind of abuse I experienced. I can't stand it when people get hurt for no reason. And most of all…" He clenched his right fist furiously. "…I want revenge."

To reiterate, everyone was speechless after what they heard. And from the look on his face, it was obvious to discern that he was livid. Narrowed blue eyes, lowered brows, twitched nose, and a distinct frown. The fact that he was atypical from his cheerful self was slightly intimidating to everyone in the room. Peach and Daisy were familiar with his unnerving stare, and it's making them scared for their green friend.

"Luigi?"

Luigi shut his eyes before reopening them, cooling down his irate demeanor. "Yes, Princess?"

Peach took a few seconds to establish her word choice without making him angry. "I'm as concerned as you are. Everyone else is, too. I agree that they need to be saved quickly, but you should consider taking things slow. Mario did mention that you were hospitalized from a coma, and you tried to rush things when you weren't 100% healthy. I'm not saying you're wrong, yet it's a bad decision to move on if you're not prepared."

"That, and you have to wait for the Poltergust to recharge. Because without the Shriek Shields, you are completely vulnerable from attacks," reminded E. Gadd.

Amy stood in front of Luigi, conveying a serious, yet compassionate look. "To answer your question, Luigi, I do miss Sonic. I want to save him as much as you want to rescue Mario. We just have to take it slow. If I was speaking to Sonic, he would refuse to listen to my speech. But I would warn him that if he were to jump the gun, it could lead to accidents. For our sakes, you have to watch out for your health. I know it's frustrating, but you need to trust us."

Luigi had to admit; they were right. This scenario drew similarities to his fight with Mario back at the clinic. He didn't want to start another verbal fight. Even though the situation was more towards the brink of falling apart right now compared to what it was several days ago, he understood the consequences of hastiness when he's not set for combat. He gave in by nodding his head.

"I understand," he sighed.

"Tell you what. I'm going to rejoin you and help you on your next quest."

"I'll join, too. I want to get a piece of the action," Blaze clenched a fist in determination.

"I want to help, too! And I won't take 'no' for an answer! I want to prove that I'm strong and helpful!" Cream shouted.

"Chao!" Cheese squealed.

"And since I haven't participated in battle for a while, I'd like to accompany you as well," offered Peach.

"And don't forget about me! I'll be right next to you for support, Luigi!" Daisy beamed.

Rouge put a hand to her hip. "Well, since everyone's agreeing to go along, I guess I'll hop on the bandwagon. Besides, my sleuthing skills can be proficient to help scope out the zone and avoid any unexpected danger."

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo barked and performed a back flip.

Luigi had to chuckle at that. "Okay. So, first thing tomorrow morning, we'll set off for Mobius."

"But before everyone goes to bed, let's restore the moon piece."

"Oh, that's right." He handed the fragment to the professor.

"Thank you, my boy."

E. Gadd walked into the Storage Room and the rest of the party followed him inside. After bringing up the Energy Suppressor, the machine did the rest of the work. The brushes wiped off the corrupted sparks until it glimmered with a purple shine. At that moment, more fog in Evershade Valley disappeared, revealing the Secret Mine. The Suppressor was put away, and the piece was transferred down into the vault's safe.

"Four pieces cleaned off, two more to go. And once the fifth one gets restored, we can finally access the Treacherous Mansion," E. Gadd adjusted his glasses.

"I wonder if Silver, Shadow, and the Chaotix are there. It's been so long since we've seen any of them," murmured Blaze.

"Now that you mention it, they probably are," Rouge thought. "Even though I have no idea what that place looks like. Although for it to be a mansion, I bet I could find some hidden gems inside the vicinity," she smirked.

"Sorry, but I already found the gems in Evershade, including the Diamonds from that specific mansion," Luigi told her. **_(2)_**

Rouge frowned. "Drat!"

"We'll just make sure we defend each other's backs, and look out for any danger that Edge may send our way," Peach changed the subject. "We must stop him, and rescue Mario and the others!"

"Yeah!" the other girls, except Rouge, rallied.

E. Gadd leaned back with his hands over his torso and chuckled. "Hohoho! Glad to see you girls full of energy! And you better make sure you sustain it for tomorrow's journey. Now then, Zephyr, can you please escort the ladies to the mansion? Luigi, you're free to stay in my guest room, unless you want to join the others."

"That's okay. I can sleep here, thank you."

"Arf! Arf!"

"And Colombo, too."

"No problem."

The Greenie guided the girls outside of the bunker and up to the mansion where they made themselves comfortable. Amy returned to the room where she slept last time. Cream and Cheese joined her to share one bed while Blaze took the last one. Rouge, Daisy, and Peach received their own private chambers and cruised into dream land.

Luigi and Colombo made their way to the professor's second bedroom and got into bed. Colombo circled around before laying on top of the sheets. Luigi watched him until his eyes closed before staring at the wall in front of him. He didn't turn in immediately as he had some more thoughts lingering on his mind. And it had to do with his nightmares, including the most recent one.

 _"If my dreams are foreshadowing the future, would I have to face either one of them later on? But, if **he** was to turn into an enemy, I wouldn't bear to think about fighting him. I… I wouldn't! I couldn't hurt him if I was forced to!"_

Luigi grasped his forehead as he laid against the headboard.

 _"This is too much stress to handle. I've made a statement that I wanted revenge against Edge. But now that I think about it, I don't know if I'm capable enough to stop him."_

He decided to shift his doubts aside and go to sleep. But his confidence remained lackluster as the nightmares continue to mess with his brain.

Meanwhile, outside of the bunker in Boo Woods, the same, lurking character was hiding behind a tree. He contacted his mystery partner again.

"Duplicit. This is Duplimore, again. Word has been confirmed that the green guy restored another Dark Moon piece. They're one step closer to stopping all of this."

"Good. That means they'll have access to the mansion soon," Duplicit responded from inside the building's entrance.

"And when he arrives, we have to take him to our boss. He's gonna find out one way or another. But in the case he doesn't, he and his partner will explain it all."

"I just hope they can do it before the end of all worlds."

"Time is of the essence. But, I still feel confident."

"I'm surprised to hear you say that of all things."

"Whatever. We just need to make sure Luigi is aware of the troubles ahead. We'll wait once he can reach Treacherous Mansion."

"Roger. That is our goal, after all. Thanks for the update, Duplimore."

"No prob. Over and out." He ended the call on his communicator. From there, the drifter laid against the bare trunk as he stared at the moon hanging high in the dark sky. He eventually shut his eyes to rest for the night.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _More plot, more nightmares, and more questions to consider. What did Luigi dream of this time? What are Duplimore and Duplicit even planning for the hero? And when will the Oblivion come to life?_

 _Thanks again for reading. Be sure to follow/favorite, write a review, and I'll see you later for Ch. 37. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1)_** _: As of 9/4/17, Nintendo's Japanese website announced that Mario was no longer a plumber. That probably applies to Luigi, too. (Not that it matters; JUST KIDDING.) But honestly, I couldn't care less about his profession or role, nor do I want to edit this entire story to get rid of the word 'plumber'. Thus, I'm sticking with this term._

 ** _(2):_** _I was referring to the gems you can find from the five mansions in Evershade. However, they don't have any significance besides getting five individual statues of Luigi when you collect all sets. I mean they're not bad, but I kind of wished the gems were more than just plain treasure._


	38. Ch 37: Lay Something Bare

_A/N: I hate exams, and I hate studying for them; story of my life. __But hey, thanks everyone for **8000 hits** at least!_

* * *

 _D_ _isclaimer: I don't own Mario or Sonic whatsoever. The plot and my OCs belong to me._

* * *

 **Chapter 37:** Lay Something Bare

Luigi gradually opened his eyes and stared at the beige ceiling. He took a moment to realize it was Friday, meaning it's been exactly one week since his birthday. He couldn't believe that much time had passed. But it has, yet it went downhill after his big party. Nothing but chaos, peril, violence, and disaster.

When he sat up, he yawned, stretching his arms and scratching his back. He got out of bed carefully, tiptoeing out of the guest room so he wouldn't wake up Colombo. As he made his way to the bathroom, he found Zephyr floating nearby.

"Hey, Zeph."

The Greenie saw Luigi and waved hello.

"Morning to you, too. Listen, can you do me a favor and go to my house to get me a fresh set of clothes?"

Zephyr made a noise to say that he can handle it.

"Thanks. There's a spare key under the doormat."

He indicated he could simply enter the house by going through the front door. He was a ghost, after all.

"Oh, yeah. I forgot. Well when you enter, my bedroom is upstairs and to the right. My shirts are in the top drawer, overalls are underneath, and my socks and boxers are on the bottom. When you get back, you can leave them on the bathroom counter."

Zephyr nodded after understanding Luigi's directions. He took off and exited the bunker. Luigi brushed his teeth and gargled some mouthwash. Initially, his tongue felt tingly after all that swimming in the Sparkling Waters. (The ocean may be sparkling, hence the name, but it was still salty.) When he finished, he took his time to remove his old articles of clothing.

Ten minutes later, as he was lathering his body with soap, he received a knock and heard Zephyr outside the room. "Is that you, Zephyr? You can put the clothes down in here like I said."

While rinsing from the steamy shower, he listened to the ghost entering and setting down his gear on the counter. The Greenie made another sound to indicate that he finished the favor.

"Thanks again!"

Another five minutes passed as Luigi dried himself and proceeded to dress up. With a new long-sleeved shirt, pair of overalls, and clean underwear, he walked over to the Storage Room where he found the Professor at his computer.

"Good morning, Luigi," said E. Gadd without turning.

"Morning, Professor."

"I woke up early and made some breakfast for you," he pointed at the table behind him. Luigi thanked him as he sat down and took a bite of a Honey Shroom. "I was able to upgrade your Poltergust to increase the suction power again. However, the Shriek Shield counter is still at a max of fifteen."

"I'm sure it's not that bad. Although, I'd probably would want to use them for the girls, especially the princesses. Don't get me wrong, I've seen Peach plenty of times as an experienced fighter, and Daisy can be tough on the field, too. But I just don't want them to be harmed so much that Toadsworth's going to throw a fit."

E. Gadd finished typing on his keyboard and faced the green man. "Just try your best, sonny. Do whatever you can to help not just yourself, but your allies, too."

Luigi nodded and finished his mushroom treat. He took a sip of his drink, a cold glass of milk.

"Mmm… Where'd you get this from?"

"It's natural coconut milk, exported from Yoshi's Island. I thought it would complement with the sweetness of the honey to wash it down, kind of like how you drink milk after eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich."

"I must say, that's a nice idea. And my taste buds are quite satisfied with the flavors."

"Glad to hear you like it."

Gadd sauntered over to the Poltergust and removed the generator's charger. He handed the vacuum to Luigi after he finished his breakfast. He equipped it on his back and readjusted his hat.

"I'm think I'm ready to go now."

"Zephyr went along to the mansion to make sure the girls are ready. You can head on out whenever you want."

He gave him a thumbs-up. "Gotcha."

"Bark! Bark!"

The sound of Colombo barking made Luigi slightly jump out of surprise. What caught him off guard though was the Polterpup pouncing on him and making him fall on his back. E. Gadd covered his mouth to stifle a laugh as the ghost continued to lick the green man's face.

"Okay! Okay! Calm down, boy! I'm not going to leave without you, even though I almost did."

"Ruff!"

"Well then," Gadd chuckled, "now that you and your crazy pooch are together, good luck out there, Luigi. I'll be rooting for you!"

"I appreciate it, Professor," he replied as he got up.

The two exited the lab and viewed the sky. It was a partly cloudy day with the sun's rays barely peeking through the clouds. The temperature was mild, with a cool breeze that flew through the bare trees.

"It's too bad I can't enjoy the weather right here and now. We have to go to Sonic's world to find Mario and the next Dark Moon piece," he murmured to himself.

"Morning, Luigi!" The plumber turned around to find the girls walking down the dirt path from the mansion's front door. Daisy came up to him first. "You ready to go?"

"I feel somewhat confident."

"Somewhat?" Cream asked.

"Chao?" Cheese chirped.

"Yeah, what happened to the Luigi we heard last night? The one where he wanted revenge against that dirty shadow?" Amy tilted her head.

Luigi blinked before shifting his eyes to the ground. Some sweat fell from his forehead. He wasn't sure if he should share his nightmares, the reason why he lost his self-assurance.

"Luigi? Are you okay?" Peach walked up to him.

He didn't raise his head, but he caught a glimpse of the princess's face, filled with fret. "I'm fine, Peach. Don't worry, I'm not going to run away again."

"Speaking of which, why _did_ you abandon us yesterday? What was with the unexpected breakdown?" questioned Blaze.

Luigi twiddled his thumbs in embarrassment. "I was going to tell Mario until I felt comfortable explaining. But I wasn't ready at the moment, and I didn't get a chance after we took down Overset."

"What were you hiding from Big Red?" Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"Peach," he directed at her, "I'm pretty sure you're going to realize what I'm about to say while the others probably may not understand since they don't know the full details."

"Luigi, what is this about?" The princess started to worry even more.

He took a deep breath and explained his nightmares from the start. From the time he was hospitalized, to the moment he was held against his will from the Pixelator transport, to the dreaded dream he had prior to their journey to Sparkling Waters, and to the most recent one when he waited for the girls to arrive last night. By the time he finished, Peach gaped with wide eyes and a hand covering her mouth in surprise. The others were also shocked, despite them comprehending only part of his dreams.

"Luigi… You don't mean?" Peach started.

"Only if it's true," he raised his palms up. "I'm not sure, but if it's a sign of foreshadowing, it _can't_ be good. Regardless, Edge is on the verge of annihilation and ascendancy. And we'll all be in serious trouble."

"What are we waiting for then?! We need to head to Mobius and capture the next Possessor, and save our friends!" Amy exclaimed.

"Right!" the rest of the party, save for Peach and Luigi cheered. They walked down the dirt path, on their way to Toad Town. The pink princess remained in her spot, standing beside the ghost hunter who was also immobile for a minute.

Peach placed a hand over her heart. "You don't think _he_ could come back, can he?"

Luigi stared at her with an indifferent look. He shook his head, "I don't know." He then lowered his eyebrows. "But whatever happens, Edge will be defeated."

"How?"

"We'll have to see. One way or another, he's going down," he clenched his right fist.

* * *

 _Location: Star Hill **(1)**_

Star Hill. A beautiful, peaceful location where shooting stars fall high and low onto the mountain. The stars represented people's wishes to come true. Most of them had to do with achieving success, becoming famous, helping others, or personal reasons. Those who were selfish to themselves, however, wouldn't get their hopes and dreams converted into falling stars.

For example, Bowser wished to rule the world or to get the princess to like him. For not having his aspirations come true, he invaded Star Haven to steal the Star Rod, and ensued to kidnap Peach. In the end, Mario saved the seven captured Star Spirits, the protective guardians of the treasured artifact, to conquer Bowser, reclaim the rod, and save the princess.

Going back to the 'self-centered jerks', one of them happened to be the Shadow Spirit himself. He stood at the peak of the hill, gazing over the vast lands that surrounded this majestic place. At the moment, he waited for his subjects to begin the next step of his dastardly ploy.

Back when he took the last two Emeralds from Sonic and Tails, Myster Edge ordered the Shadelings at Vanilla Dome to transport the thousands of Dark Shards from their hideout to Star Hill. By the time he arrived at the sanctuary, most of them were delivered. Afterwards, the minions arranged the Shards around the border of the round peak, forming three-quarters of a circle.

Once they complete a full ring with enough of these Dark Moon copies, Edge can manipulate the negative energy with the power of the seven Chaos Emeralds floating inside his magical scepter. When it's all said and done, the countdown to destruction would commence.

"The last of the Shards should be here soon. Although my patience is running thin." Edge definitely wasn't a persistent person (similar to most enemies), yet he was eager to continue.

Soon, three cruisers landed side by side at the apex. The doors opened to reveal several Shadelings hauling more freights of Dark Shards. Following them were the captains of the ships: Slimmer, Clawdio, and Alpha. The first two were the ones who transported the crystals while the other robots constructed the large ring. Alpha joined them for extra productivity after he dropped off his leader.

The Shadow Spirit turned to his superior line of mechs. "Minions, status report."

"We followed your orders and brought the Dark Shards to Star Hill. The Shadelings did their best to make sure enough covers the outer ring of the mountaintop," Clawdio responded.

"We continued to bring in the rest while Alpha here joined in. More of our army is finishing up the last portion of the ring," Slimmer pointed at the underlings who were settling the shards down.

"I checked the remains at our hideout and investigated how much we need. By my observations, we should definitely have enough for your master plan. But we do have a couple piles left back at our Vanilla Dome hideout in the case we do need more. Otherwise, I'm positive this is a sufficient amount. We just have to wait for them to be put in place," Alpha beeped.

For once, Edge was proud to hear the news coming from the robots' mouths. "Perfect! With the power of the Dark Shards and the Chaos Emeralds, the Oblivion will soon come to life! I'll finally be able to rule every corner and crevice of the entire universe! And I'll manipulate that silly green plumber so I can seize him and use his body to resurrect my old friend!"

"By the way, who _is_ this partner of yours?" the lanky chrome robot asked.

"Yeah, I don't think you've told us about this person other than the fact you knew him and he was apparently gone," said the orange-clawed robot.

"And I only know half the story, not that it matters to me. What's important is fulfilling your needs, sir," the Omega clone stated.

"Hmm," Edge smirked. "I guess it's alright to tell you then. Might as well if I'm going to wait for them to finish setting up the ring. Gather round, minions. Try to comprehend and be enlightened by my history. I'm going to rue the day that green man messed with my partner."

* * *

 _Location: Chemical Plant Zone_

 _"This is all my fault…"_

Mario, sitting in one of the corners of the cage and facing away from everyone, contemplated those five words to himself. He remained guilty for not doing anything to stop Edge from nearly drowning his brother. With scared thoughts, he couldn't bear to think of how traumatized he must be from the physical pain. What else was on his mind was whether or not Luigi recovered. He was aware that Colombo was missing, so there was some hope that the Polterpup could have jumped in the water and swim Luigi to shore. Albeit a tough task for the ghost dog, he was the only source to help his little bro. But if he didn't rescue him in time…

No, Mario didn't want to think about death. He nearly lost him about a week ago. Yet he overcame the dangers he encountered, the ghosts that harassed him, and the bosses he fought. Mario believed that Luigi is stronger that what he displays. Within that shell of a man, whose tendency was to run and cower from any trouble, was a determined soul. Inside of him was a hidden trait, the drive that proved why he persevered to save him from the times he was kidnapped by King Boo, or to help him defeat Bowser.

That trait, was bravery.

And he exemplified that several times since he was determined to stop the Shadow Spirit or anything in his way. Despite how underrated he was, Luigi offered more than what people bargained. But with the condition he was in hours ago, he hated to think that there was some lost hope.

"You okay, buddy?"

Mario turned around to find Yoshi looking down on him with a worried face. He rotated away and breathed through his nostrils. "I'm alright," he lied.

The dinosaur sat beside the mustached man. "Are you sure?" he asked for assurance.

Mario didn't respond immediately. Instead, he tilted his head slightly to take a small glimpse of his concerned friend. "I'm sure," he fibbed again.

"You're lying again, aren't you?" Behind them, Sonic stood in the middle of the cage, tapping his red shoe and crossing his arms.

Mario looked back at Sonic with a grimace. He remembered the last time he was in denial, so he preferred not to start another argument with the hedgehog.

"Okay. I'm lying. I'm not alright."

"I thought so." He put a hand on his right shoulder, where Mario's right short sleeve had a hole when an Urchin managed to tear through the fabric. "Dude, don't worry. We're going to get out of here."

"And how so?" Eggman retorted from the other prison. He happened to eavesdrop on their conversation. "If you opened your eyes, you could tell we're restrained behind bars, in the air, above a river of death! You and your stupid optimism should know that it's impossible to escape!"

He shot a glare at the doctor. "No one asked you, Egghead. So zip it."

"Just be grateful you didn't get stuck with him," Knuckles groaned. "Who knows if he's gonna stink up the place again?"

"Hey! Enough with the fart jokes! I bet everyone is getting tired of them already!"

"Frankly, I'm not that tired of it," Sonic shrugged. "Besides, if it means making fun of you, the more the merrier."

"Not you idiots! I meant everyone else!" he threw his hands up.

"Who's 'everyone else'?" Orbot blinked in confusion.

"I don't know. Maybe the people who are listening to us right now! Or in another case, _reading_ it!"

The red robot turned to Cubot, who also had an expressionless face. "Don't ask me. I'm as stumped as you," he replied.

Eggman slapped a palm on his forehead in frustration while Knuckles shook his head. Sonic rolled his eyes and returned to Mario, knees curled up and head resting on top of his arms.

"Mario-"

"You don't need to tell me twice. I'm going to pray that Luigi's alright and that he'll come rescue us. It's the only positive thing I'll put out there. Now if you don't mind, I want some peace and quiet."

He proceeded to dig his head in his arms, away from everyone, and drifted to sleep again, despite how his resting position seemed uncomfortable. Yoshi made a distraught sound, sad to see Mario upset.

Sonic frowned as well. To his displeasure, he wanted to get out. But if he tried swaying the cage around by spin dashing the bars, the chain could break, which could make them splash into the lethal water. And considering they were hanging from _ten stories high_ , he didn't want to risk himself or his friends from getting hurt in chemicals or from fall damage. **_(2)_** He went back to Tails, who was sitting quietly in the opposite corner the entire time. He noticed that the fox was staring at the floor with a frustrated expression.

"If only I built backup communicators for us. I could have called Luigi to tell us where we are. Ugh, I'm so dumb!" he berated himself.

"Tails, don't be like that, please. I don't want to see you upset, too."

"I'm sorry, Sonic. But we could've done something to prevent all of this. But we just stood there, defenseless and unprepared. Now we're kidnapped, and without the Chaos Emeralds, too. Edge has unlimited power now. And with that, he's going to bring the Oblivion to life. That's scary to think about."

Sonic scratched his head in thought. "That makes me wonder. Why does the Oblivion need to be created with the power of the Chaos Emeralds? What does their energy have to do with all this?"

"I don't know. But don't forget that they copied the moon fragments and made tons of Dark Shards to go along with the Emeralds. Their negative energy must be linked to them in some way. But I don't know why."

"Could any of this relate to the moments where Luigi got revitalized with the Emeralds and the restored Dark Moon pieces?"

Tails looked at Sonic with wide eyes. "Maybe. That could be logical, for whatever purpose it has. I just wish we knew the backstory behind these mysterious powers."

"One way or another, we'll learn about it. And we'll make sure that shadow guy pays for ruining everything."

Tails sighed as he uncomfortably laid his head against the metal bars. At the same time, he was distraught for his second best friend. "I miss Luigi."

Sonic laid next to him and pulled him into a one-arm hug. "I'm positive he's gonna bounce back. Besides, he's the only one who's able to capture the next Possessor ghost."

"Well, I can only hope he's okay."

"And I agree, little buddy. I agree."

Mario overheard the Mobians' small talk, his mind floating back to his younger sibling. That made him realize something.

 _"He never told me about his nightmare."_

Whatever it was about, he remained unaware of the forthcoming danger that jeopardizes Luigi. And he won't know about it until much later.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Secrets have been revealed, but you viewers will never know what Luigi and Edge uncovered… at least not right now. But next time on Hidden Bravery, Luigi and the girls will travel to Mobius in pursuit of rescuing Mario, Sonic, and the rest of the captured party. On another note, Edge is one step closer to initiate the ritual that will create the Oblivion._

 _As always, I appreciate your time for reading! Leave a review, follow/favorite for more updates, and I'll see you guys in Ch. 38! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Star Hill is a magical place that appeared in Super Mario RPG, Paper Mario (renamed Shooting Star Summit for this game), and M&L: Partners in Time. __According to Super Mario Wiki, it's described as 'the place where wishes come true'._

 ** _(2):_** _I'm sure Mario, Sonic, and the others can withstand falling from high heights (especially for the red hero once Mario Odyssey comes out). But for the sake of the story, and the situation they're in, they'll be stuck until Luigi and the others can save them._


	39. Ch 38: Doomsday Awakens

_A/N: A new achievement: **20+ favorites**! Special thanks to the new users who added this story to their favorites list, alongside the people who've been reading and following  Hidden Bravery over the last 9 ½ months!_

 _Also, studying sucks, but that's part of the cycle of college. I'm just happy I finished this chapter despite how busy I was for the past two weeks._

 _And Happy Columbus Day, everyone._

 ** _*NOTE: The end of this chapter has been re-edited as of the release of Ch. 41._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: Still the same since the prologue. You get the picture._

* * *

 **Chapter 38:** Doomsday Awakens

 _Location: Toad Town_

Leading the pack of nine, Luigi plodded back to the castle where he must venture into the Mushroom Warp Pipe that would send them to Sonic's planet, Mobius. Colombo was walking by his side, followed by Amy, Peach, and Daisy behind them while Rouge, Blaze, Cream, and Cheese were in the back.

They reached Peach's Castle once again where a worried Toadsworth stood on the bridge, yet again, gripping his cane tightly. Toad and Toadette were also next to him. "Princess! Master Luigi! You have returned, thank goodness!"

"You know, Toadsworth, we're also here as well," Daisy reminded him with a small grunt.

"You _are_ safe, right?"

"Toadsworth, please. Don't embarrass me like this. I'm a grown woman, and a princess. I believe I can look after myself sometimes."

"Anyways, we need to go to Mobius to rescue Mario and the others," Luigi explained. "They seemed to be captured in the Chemical Plant Zone."

"Ah, yes. The Chemical Pl-" The elderly mushroom man realized what he heard and started to become anxious, not that anyone was surprised at his reaction. "You don't mean to tell me that you're off to some toxic wasteland?! And for most of your girls, especially you, Princess, don't plan on joining, are you?!"

"Listen, Grandpa Fungus," Rouge swayed her hand like it was no big deal, "we can handle this ourselves. No need to worry when we know what the place looks like."

Said Toad became red-faced, causing the other two to hold him down. "Toadsworth, please calm down!" Toadette begged.

"Calm down?! 'No need to worry?!' I do not approve of this at all! Princess, I-"

"Toadsworth, I've made a formal decision to join and help Luigi rescue Mario. As much as you disagree with me, I will not back down. I may be responsible for looking after our kingdom, but I should also step up and defend myself. I can't just be the damsel in distress or the excluded one all the time. I'm traveling to Mobius, and that's final."

One look into Peach's eyes, and Toadsworth realized how serious the princess was. He twitched his white mustache for a second before sighing. Reluctantly, he accepted her terms.

"Okay, your Highness. Just please… Return to me safely once more. I couldn't bear myself to hear you get kidnapped once again. My heart just wouldn't take it."

"It baffles me that he hasn't experienced a heart attack from all those previous times," Rouge uttered quietly. Peach barely heard her and shook her head.

"We'll do our best to stay safe, Mr. Toadsworth, sir. And we'll help rescue all our friends as soon as we can!" promised Cream. Cheese backed her up with a few cries of his own, alongside some puppy eyes that was unbearable to go against the Chao.

"Don't worry. You can count on us! And later, we'll find a way to stop Myster Edge!" Amy smirked.

"But first, we need to return to our home," stated Blaze. "However, without Sonic or Tails, we lack a Chaos Emerald to unlock the pipe. And worst of all, Edge has all seven of them now. Not only that, but our original Power Star is apparently gone due to unforeseen circumstances," the cat glared at the bat.

"Oh, please," Rouge rolled her eyes and obscenely waved her hand again. "I was just admiring its beauty and glow that I decided to keep it."

"Yeah, and then you sold it to that jewelry shop for some cheap diamonds," she pointed at the bracelet around her gloved wrists and the necklace above her pink heart-shaped chest plate.

"They are not cheap! I bought them for a very good deal, if I say so myself. Besides, I bet you guys have some more in your collection. After all, Big Red is known for mass collecting those precious Stars. Same with Mr. Lean Green Machine over here."

Rouge's comment made Luigi gaze away from everyone, trying to hide the red blush on his cheeks. Blaze shook her head with a hand on her forehead. Toadsworth also shook disapprovingly.

"Do you have another one we could use, Mr. Toadsworth?" Cream politely asked.

"Of course! We always store a large amount in the castle for emergencies and for good reason. Just make sure you keep it for necessary measures though!" His instructions were more directed at Rouge than the entire party, but the point was straightforward to them.

"I'll go get it!" chimed the red-dotted retainer. A few minutes later, Toad pulled out two glowing Power Stars from his pocket; one to unlock the pipes and return back home while the other was an extra spare in case they lose the first. Luigi took them from his hands. "Here you go! Good luck freeing the others!"

"We're gonna need it alright," Daisy hoped.

"Go on, Luigi," Peach gestured.

The green plumber nodded and placed the Power Star in the five-point slot. With the equivalent power of a Chaos Emerald, Luigi entered in the code to unlock the pipe.

"Well, let's-a-go then. After you, ladies."

Being the gentleman he was, he allowed and waited for the girls to enter. Once all seven went underground, he motioned Colombo to follow them. He entered in last after removing the Power Star.

Before he locked up the pipe, Toadsworth gave one last cry. "Master Luigi! Please do be careful and help the princesses and misses at all costs!"

"I will, Toadsworth."

"You can do it, Luigi!" Toad cheered.

"We'll be here waiting for your return!" Toadette added.

Luigi waved his hand and shut the entrance, making his way to a different, yet familiar, world.

However, none of them noticed that Duplimore, hiding behind a tree in the castle grounds, was spying on them.

 _"So that's where he's heading. A whole new planet, and with a group of gals. Hmph… How unsettling to waste that man's time, but that's what the enemy would plan. Better call Duplicit."_

Activating his wrist communicator, he contacted his buddy.

"This is Duplicit speaking. What's up, Duplimore?"

"Where are you?"

"I'm actually at the boss's headquarters right now. I came here to report the status of our mission."

"How convenient. I have an update on the green guy. He's traveling to another world to recover the fifth Dark Moon piece. If he succeeds, he'll definitely arrive at the Treacherous Mansion last. From there, we need to uncover the big secret to him. And that's where the boss comes in."

"I recently put the communicator on speaker. They're both in here, and they just listened to what you said earlier." Duplicit was standing in front of two people sitting at a table, his right arm extended out towards them.

"Really? Boss, this is Duplimore, reporting to you."

"I hear you loud and clear," a deep voice bellowed into the subject's communicator. "At this pace, we'll be able to meet him soon."

"Let's just hope it _does_ happen soon rather than later," the other person spoke, this one being feminine.

"Don't worry, Sir and Madam. We won't fail you or our mission. Whenever he returns to the Mushroom Kingdom, I'll scope him before I depart to Evershade Valley. I'll meet up with you once he finishes his current goal."

The tall man nodded. "Acknowledged. Again, we appreciate you two for helping us out. You may go back to your posts."

"Yes, boss. I'll see you soon. Over and out," Duplimore ended the call.

Duplicit turned off his communicator and bowed to the individuals. "I presume you are now informed of what's going on?"

"We do. Now you may head back to the mansion and wait for the man in green to appear. When you catch sight of him, take him to us, and we'll settle it from there."

"Right, my Lord," Duplicit saluted in response. He headed out of the headquarters, leaving the other two alone.

"I can't believe it's come to this. We desperately need help to stop this madness," the woman pleaded, tightening her left hand into a fist.

The man glanced at his soulmate and gently placed his right hand over hers. She looked up to him, seeing his eyes entranced in a devoted stare.

"Do not worry, my love. I assure you, we will not let Myster Edge foil the universe. We just need time. We have to be patient, despite how tough it is to handle."

She stared back at him with a similar face. "If you say so, then I can only be confident in your words." She expressed a small grin, causing the hatted man to smile back.

"In due time, I'm positive that he will put an end to all this. He'll do it. He just won't know until later."

* * *

 _Location: Star Hill_

"Okay. So that's what your motives are," Clawdio nodded his head, taking in the information.

"Now we know the full story," said Slimmer.

"And even though I already knew who your partner was, at least we'll be sure he'll return to be revitalized and help you for further domination," Alpha added.

At this time, Edge just finished explaining the truth on why he was constructing the Oblivion, who he was planning to resuscitate, and why he's targeting the man in green to take _his_ place. Before he could say anything else, one of the Shadelings called to him.

"Myster Edge! We are finished with completing the ring of Dark Shards!"

The purple monster turned around and gazed at the finished product. A vast quantity of Shards entirely encircled the hill, glowing in a spectral shade of purple with several corrupted sparks emitting from the ring.

The shadow figure smirked more than he did several minutes ago. "HAHAHAHA! Excellent work, my robotic troops! Now step aside as I prepare the ritual."

The Shadelings obeyed their master and walked out of the way, standing behind the other three robots. Alpha, Slimmer, and Clawdio remained in their spots as they waited for Edge to become situated with his surroundings.

"Well guys, we accomplished our jobs and made our leader content after a long wait. And I've never seen him this satisfied ever since he took control," said Alpha.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it. He gets his hopes and dreams up as they're about to come true. Now where's our reward?" Slimmer complained.

"Ugh, you're still on that stupid shit again?" Clawdio facepalmed. "I've told you this more than once before, and this better be the last time I'm going to say it. We're not being compensated or praised for our efforts. He'll only express just a sheer amount of enjoyment, to his benefit though. Us robots aren't going to bask in the glory or share the same feeling once the end of worlds commences. Only he will. This is his moment for an uprising. And there's no one who's going to stop him."

"Not even the green clad dude?"

"Not even the green clad dude."

"Quiet, you two," Alpha demanded in a hushed voice. "Myster Edge needs all the concentration he can get. And that requires both of you to shut your mouths."

"Well what about you? You were just talking to us."

"Don't be a smartass if you don't even have the intellect, idiot."

Despite the background chatter, the purple shadow stood in the center of the mountaintop, only focusing on himself and the Dark Shards that encircled him. The sparks glistened and became more reactive with the presence of the seven Chaos Emeralds. Edge spread his arms out wide, his right hand clutching the scepter tightly, and harnessed the negative power of the Shards.

He closed his eyes and began chanting some verses:

"With the seven Emeralds in my hand,

And the power of the Dark Shards,

Let Chaos reign and commence,

To all dimensions, near and far.

Bring forth the dark hole,

To consume everyone and everything,

Allow terror to unfold,

For the worlds to fall into Oblivion!"

"Jeez, how long has he taken to practice that piece of poetry, since nursery school?"

"Slimmer, shut your trap," Clawdio hissed.

The skinny robot rolled his bronze eyes. Alpha remained silent, but deep down he wanted both to shut up. If only he could express irritability rather than speak it verbally. He was a robot after all. He doesn't really express any true emotions. Maybe satisfaction when he follows his master's orders, but nothing else.

Meanwhile, after finishing his recitation, a purple, gleaming ring arose from the thousands of crystals and flew in midair. It slowly shrunk in size as it floated to the center, directly at Edge's staff. The circle surrounded the orb, causing the interaction with the Chaos Emeralds to become more responsive than before.

Myster Edge opened his eyes and gazed at his early creation. He began to laugh maniacally as he stared at the dark blue sky. **_(1)_**

"HAHAHAHA! It has all come together! Now, let the combined powers of the Emeralds and the Shards bring the Oblivion to life, as the destruction of all worlds will ensue!"

He lifted the scepter up high, letting out a mighty, boastful scream as a shocking streak of lightning shot into the air above. Alpha, Clawdio, Slimmer, and the Shadelings watched the show as Edge completed the last part of the ritual. The lightning tremored until the sky lit up in a purple essence from the spell. It covered the vast area above Star Hill and managed to travel to the other locations of the Mushroom Kingdom. Toad Town, Boo Woods, Mushroom City, and other places near and far. The citizens in all those places either managed to catch a glimpse of this darkness, or couldn't since it away in a blink of an eye. The sky returned to normal afterwards, but little did they know it was about to get worse.

The energy radiated from the Dark Shards and the Chaos Emeralds still shined around the Shadow Spirit. The lightning continuously struck the upper atmosphere, yet the region remained dark. But seconds later, Star Hill got even dimmer. An ominous orb, shimmering with black and purple sparks, emerged from the staff's orb. Edge grinned at the sight of this. It glided into the path of the lightning bolt and ascended to the clouds. When it reached the peak, the orb exploded. By then, a hole emitting those same two colors appeared in the starry sky, casting darkness and shadows over the majestic hill.

"HAHAHAHA! Minions! I did it! The Oblivion is now set in place! And soon, more of these dark holes will appear in every location of this pathetic world, as well as all dimensions!" Edge cackled triumphantly.

"Excellent work, Myster Edge," Alpha praised. "I am proud that you accomplished your dastardly plan."

"Yeah, except you put us into labor to help you out," Slimmer grumbled.

"And there he goes again with the complaints. Get a hold of yourself, twig legs," Clawdio whacked the chrome robot.

"OW!"

"Now, all that's left is to wait for the green man and take apart his soul. Once I completely get my hands on him, I'll be able to revive my partner and let him claim his body! Then we can watch the worlds fall into the deep, making us unstoppable for all eternity!"

"That is good, sir. But there is one question. How are you going to manipulate the plumber to your advantage?"

"Hmm… I'll have to consider a strategy, Alpha. I actually haven't really thought of that until you brought it up."

"Are you just going to hurt him like you've done before?"

"I will always attack him, Slim. It's part of the revenge I'm plotting against him. But I need to bring him to the heart of the Oblivion, once it's close to the destruction process, to bring him back to life."

"Why not just find him immediately and do it right then and there? What's the point of reviving your friend in the black hole?" Clawdio asked with confusion.

"Because he died in a similar place like the Oblivion. I want that mustache freak to expire in the same way he did. But before I do sacrifice his body, I need to revive him with another powerful artifact."

"Another one? Something more powerful than the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Moon copies?" Slimmer tilted his head.

"Not as strong as these gems, since they have unlimited power when all seven are collected into one's possession. But, the negative energy of the Emeralds and the Shards will be sufficient enough to coax his perished soul. When successful, he will return. And together, we will execute my ultimate revenge against that pitiful plumber. HAHAHAHA!"

"I think he's gone delusional," Slimmer whispered to the other two.

"Well I think you're incompetent," Clawdio counteracted.

"Why, thank you." After a moment of silence, he realized what the orange robot said. "Hey!"

"Not to mention, idiotic."

"You're both idiotic, so shut the hell up, you two," grumbled Alpha.

The Shadelings behind them didn't bother saying a word. They stood there watching the three top-tiered robots fighting and their leader basking in the success that is an eventual doomsday.

* * *

 _Location: Station Square_

Cheese, Cream, Amy, Blaze, and Rouge have made it back to Mobius, but only for a different reason. They need to rescue their friends, Eggman, and his robots in the Chemical Plant Zone. The four girls and the Chao led Luigi, Colombo, Peach, and Daisy through the bustling city, which was mostly restored after a week from Edge's invasion. A few buildings and sites still needed to be rebuilt from the ground up. However, everyone seemed to be normal, walking on the sidewalk, relaxing in the park, enjoying the beachside, driving to their destination, or whatever they're doing on a casual Friday morning.

"At least the city is restored to what it was before that evil monster attacked," said Cream.

"Chao Chao!" Cheese added with enthusiasm.

"As much as it seems nice to go shopping in this weather, we have to find Sonic and the gang," Amy mentioned.

"And as long as we don't get sidetracked by _jewelry_ , maybe things will turn out okay," Blaze glared at Rouge.

"Oh, come off with that already, would you? A gorgeous woman like myself deserves fine diamonds every once in a while."

"But you had to acquire it by selling one of their most prized collectibles?"

"Hey, at least Grandpa was courteous enough to give us two this time."

"Because what if you decide to sell another one?" the Sol cat huffed.

"This is why Knuckles was belligerent back in Vanilla Dome." Amy reminded. "You're such a greedy being sometimes, you know that?"

"And I intend to be that kind of being," Rouge smirked.

"Girls, can we please get back to why we're here in the first place?" Daisy interrupted. "Mario, Sonic, and everyone else are still trapped to this minute. We need to find them, get the next Dark Moon piece, and take down Edge!"

"Exactly," Peach agreed. "I do admit, this is a nice day, but we don't have time to stand and admire its beauty. Edge could be on the verge of getting rid of all worlds."

"Um, I think he's already done that, Princess," Luigi said to her.

"What do you mean?"

"Look."

"Arf! Arf!"

Colombo barked in the direction where Luigi pointed. The other seven gazed at the sky to see something extraordinary, something disturbing that changed the scenery in Mobius. High above the skyscrapers, glowing near the bright sun, was a black and purple hole. Several pedestrians also managed to notice this anomaly. Some of them became scared, others started panicking, and the rest were both entranced and confused by its appearance.

"Huh? That looks like the Void!" Peach gasped.

"Yes, but this must be the Oblivion," Luigi narrowed his eyes. "Edge must have used the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards to create this phenomenal hole."

"Out of curiosity, how long did this Void thing last before it went away?" Amy asked.

"Mario spent days to seek the Pure Hearts and contradict the Chaos Heart. And as time went by, the hole enlarges slowly. However, it did manage to consume a foreign kingdom during our travels, and it nearly consumed every other world before defeating Count Bleck and Super Dimentio."

"I barely could recall what happened during that final confrontation, but it was chaotic, no doubt about it. I nearly killed Mario, the princess, and even Bowser."

"But that wasn't your fault, Luigi. It was Dimentio who forced you so he could take control. He duped everyone, including Lord Blumiere."

"Blumiere?" Blaze, Cream, and Rouge repeated simultaneously. Cheese innocently tilted his head.

"That was Count Bleck's real name before he tried to get rid of all life," Luigi explained. "But eventually, he was reunited with his lover, Lady Timpani, otherwise known as Tippi who helped Mario throughout that adventure." **_(2)_**

Peach sighed sadly. "It's been so many years since we've seen the two since it was presumed they ceased by expressing their love for each other to dispel the Chaos Heart and prevent the worlds from falling apart. I sure miss Tip-, I mean Timpani. And Blumiere was just misunderstood for a certain reason. Despite his previous intentions, he's a true gentleman at heart. Wherever they are, I hope they're still living well and happily with each other."

"Aw, that's so sweet!" Amy clasped her hands, similar to whenever she gazed at Sonic lovingly.

"Guys, we're getting off-topic again!" Daisy recapped. "We need to head to the Chemical Plant Zone before we're too late!"

"You're right! We have to save everyone!" cried Cream.

"We'll have to worry about the black hole for later. Let's move out!" Rouge made a fist.

"Alright. Let's go!" Blaze gestured.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped.

"Chao!" Cheese cheered.

The group of nine ran as fast as they could as they exited the city. Their next stop was going to be a dangerous place, as if the scenario wasn't dangerous enough. Because of that black hole looming in the sky, the demise of all dimensions was approaching fast.

For Luigi, he knew that the race against time has started. There was no time to dawdle. He must find his friends and collect the next Dark Moon piece as soon as possible. From there, he has to recover the last fragment, restore the Evershade ghosts, and confront Edge to take back the Chaos Emeralds and prevent him from destroying everything.

And of course, he could only wish it was that easy when he certainly knew that it wasn't.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Shit hit the fan real hard here, viewers. Myster Edge has successfully brought the Oblivion to life, and time is winding down. How long does Luigi and the others have to stop the Shadow Spirit? Will Edge truly get rid of all dimensions and revive his friend? Who exactly is the boss of Duplimore and Duplicit? And who was that mysterious woman with him?_

 _Stay tuned when Luigi and the gang enter the Chemical Plant Zone. Please let me know what you think of this chapter by leaving a review! Don't forget to favorite and follow if you're attached to the story, and I'll see you guys in Ch. 39! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Typically, Star Hill is perpetually dark like Evershade Valley. It seems to be that way in the games this location appeared in._

 ** _(2):_** _Luigi does (somewhat) remember the concluding events of Super Paper Mario in this story, just for context. Even though my other fanfiction, New Brotherhood, contradicts this, these stories are not linked to one another._


	40. Ch 39: Chemical Imbalance

_A/N:_ _I was on another time crunch, but I still wanted to be consistent with uploads for this story._

 _On another note, I will admit that I haven't made much progress on_ _New Brotherhood_ _over the past month. For those following that fanfiction, I'll try my best to finish Ch. 14 by the end of October. If not, I'll probably post it mid-November._

 _Lastly,_ _Super Mario Odyssey_ _releases this Friday! I'll have to wait until Thanksgiving to get a chance to try it out though! I want to avoid any spoilers, so please don't say anything important or crazy about it that I probably don't know. I've heard tons of people were posting videos and spoilers on YouTube and Twitter. I had to pinch myself not to click on them or close my eyes so I wouldn't see the thumbnails. BUT THE HYPE IS REAL._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own anything but the plot and my OCs._

* * *

 **Chapter 39:** Chemical Imbalance

 _Location: Chemical Plant Zone_

The industrial city landscape was not the most appealing attraction in this location. But it was the only thing that was worth admiring. The only disturbances were the smells of the toxic gas, and the rising pollution that's contaminating the air. The factory and the machinery itself still remained intact on West Side Island ever since Eggman first invaded the site. It brought back bad memories to him, Sonic, and Tails.

In Eggman's case, Sonic and Tails infiltrated the factory to defeat Water Eggman, where the doctor controlled a different floating vehicle to spew out sludge bombs. Since the inseparable duo was victorious, it added another defeat to Eggman's losing record. For the heroes, Sonic despised the water for obvious reasons. He'd had to fight the depths and the currents to avoid drowning. Tails would occasionally help out his buddy, but there were times he had trouble catching up to the hedgehog as he blazed through the course. That resulted him getting hurt by the machines. And when they had to face Eggman, they had to evade the falling platforms that led to an unsatisfying swim into some pink water.

Knuckles was fairly familiar with this area, but he didn't pay much attention to notice what it contained. **_(1)_** Nonetheless, he couldn't care less about the layout or the scenery. What he wanted was to get out of a confined cage with a fat villain and two average robot henchmen.

Speaking of which, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot simply sat on the metal floor. The same went for the other four in the nearby cell. It's not like the prisoners had anything else to do. If you're held against your will, there weren't that many options but to escape. Take Princess Peach, for example. On several occasions, she'd be trapped in a cage next to Bowser's throne so she wouldn't sneak out of his castle. All she could do was pray that Mario would come to her rescue. But since escaping wasn't a choice, all they could was wait for help. No one had said a word for a while, until Cubot opened his mouth.

"So, how long has it been?"

"By now, probably a couple of hours. Not that it really matters," answered Orbot.

"Urgh. How I loathe being stuck in prison," Knuckles put his namesakes on his head, squishing the cheeks on his muzzle.

"You're telling me. How do you think I felt when G.U.N. mistook me for Shadow?" Sonic muttered.

"At least your ass didn't get stuck in jail for the past several days," Eggman growled.

Sonic stood up in anger. "Listen. I'm just saying that those people should've opened their eyes and realize how unintelligent they were when they thought I was some kind of criminal when I don't even look like him. He has black fur, damn it! I'm blue! It's just as stupid as those tree-like creatures mistaking Mario as a graffiti perpetrator when he looked nothing like his shadow counterpart." **_(2)_**

Mario recoiled from the hedgehog's rant, reminiscing how that summer vacation went awry. But he pushed himself to avoid saying anything. Although no one could see, his facial expression was anything but comfortable.

Suddenly, Yoshi whipped his head around. Usually, he would do this when he smelled food. But this was for a different reason. "Hey, guys? Do you hear something?"

Tails looked at the dinosaur who was sitting across from him. He twitched his ears after he popped the question. "Hmm… Other than bubbling toxic waste and the working machinery, not really."

"You mean don't hear some type of whirring sound?"

"Whirring?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Yeah, like the sound of a black hole sucking up particles in a galaxy."

For the first time in a while, Mario raised his head and looked around the zone. He remained quiet, not listening to the others speaking at the time. Then, something caught his attention. Over to his right, he noticed a strange abnormality in the sky.

"What the hell?" he whispered.

He stood up and gripped two bars as he tried to get a better view. Tails, Yoshi, and Sonic noticed his movements.

"What's up, Mario?" the fox asked.

He didn't directly answer his question. Instead, he responded with, "Oh no."

Sonic scratched his ear before asking him. "Mario, you're not telling us something. What's the matter?"

He walked over to stand by the plumber's side. Tails also stood up and joined on the hedgehog's right. They both noticed that Mario had a scowl on his face. Yoshi, on Mario's left, started to worry when he saw his friend.

"Buddy?"

"It's here," Mario finally spoke.

"What's here?" Sonic questioned.

Mario scrunched his face into an angrier expression. "The Oblivion."

The three looked straight to where Mario was looking. They all widened their eyes when they noticed a glitching hole of black and purple, rising high above the city.

"So that's what it looks like?" Yoshi turned to Mario.

He responded with a nod. "And it's strangely similar to the Void I once saw back in Flipside."

Knuckles was wondering what was going on since he couldn't hear their conversation. "What are you guys staring at?"

"I think we're witnessing a strange phenomenon that was successfully developed by the main adversary by using the power of negative sources," stated Tails.

"I may be a man with an enormous IQ, but how about you speak English, fox boy?" Eggman grunted.

Tails rolled his eyes and narrowed them when he faced the doctor. "Myster Edge has created the Oblivion using the Chaos Emeralds and the moon fragment copies known as the Dark Shards. The Oblivion is that dark hole floating in the sky. You know, the only thing that's out of place in this wasteland. That better for you?"

"Hmph. No need to be too specific over a simple question," he crossed his arms.

"Pfft. How the hell do you even have an IQ of 300 when you're as dumb and incompetent as a tree stump?" Sonic derided.

"Grrr… I've had enough of your insults, hedgehog!" he pointed a finger at him.

"Hmm, for once you know how to label me as one."

"You know, you could learn how to shut your annoying, little mouth."

"That's basically what I've fucking told you to do on the way here, Eggwad," Mario swore without turning around.

Eggman's temper got to him yet again as he shackled the floating prison. "Okay, plumber! You want to talk dirty as well?! If I could reach you from beyond these bars, I would tear you down, limb from limb, with my dirty hands!"

"Yo, Eggface! Stop shaking our cell, for Chaos' sake! You want us to fall to our doom?!" Knuckles pulled him back.

"How ironic. The hot-tempered guy has to calm someone else down. I remember when the others had to pull him back in the caves," Cubot commented.

Knuckles growled as he looked at the robots with a mean stare.

"He said it, not me," defended Orbot.

"You two always seem to be the ones who can't control yourselves," Sonic bitterly replied.

"You're such a damn hypocrite, Sonic. I've seen you bust out that inflated ego of yours. And that usually happens, whenever you show off your speed, try to act all cool, or get into a fight," Knuckles fired back.

"Ugh, is there ever a time when you guys don't bicker over the most trivial things?" Tails complained.

"Yeah. I'm already getting a headache just from all the negativity," Yoshi murmured.

"Like I care, you prehistoric reptile!" Eggman shouted.

Tails and Yoshi simply sighed to themselves. Everyone else was either irate, in a bad mood, or both. They were the only two who felt uncomfortable from all the reckless chatter since they aren't belligerent with words. Tensions were running high, and they weren't going down anytime soon.

Mario shut his eyes, crossed his arms, and lowered his head. He could only go back to thinking about Luigi.

Was he okay? What if he wasn't? Did he recover? What if he was hospitalized a second time? Does he even know where they were? Or is he running aimlessly trying to find them? And what if Edge hurts him again?

 _"Luigi, please help us. Soon."_

* * *

 _Location: Emerald Hill Zone_

Even though they were still in Sonic's world, they noticed another threatening black hole in the sky of West Side Island. To Peach and Luigi, it seemed very similar to the Void, how it appeared in different dimensions at the same time since its creation.

The gang traveled to their first stop, the Emerald Hill Zone, which was where Tails found the green Chaos Emerald before being kidnapped by Rocco. Speaking of him, Myster Edge learned earlier that he had been thwarted by Sonic, which made sense since they were the ones who kept the last two Emeralds the other robots were searching. Regardless, the villain couldn't care less about the loss of one of his assistants since he has full possession of all seven gems. That, and he separated the heroes and prisoners from his primary target, for the sole purpose of distracting them as time flies.

Soon, they reached a wide bridge with a cascading waterfall found on their left.

"Here we are, Emerald Hill," announced Amy. "Once we cross these hills, we'll reach the Chemical Plant Zone within the industrial city. Sonic has to be there."

"And Tails, too," Cream added.

"Alongside Mario and everyone else, as well," said Daisy.

Luigi continued to follow the girls as the pink hedgehog led the way. Rouge was walking in between Blaze and Peach, leaning towards the latter to whisper a question.

"Psst, what's up with Greenie? He hasn't said a word since we left Station Square," she pointed out.

"I don't know, to be honest," Peach responded back quietly. "But it probably had to do with the nightmares he described to us. And knowing how serious they seem to be, it must've been traumatizing for him whenever he has a dream that turns out to be awfully terrible."

"Do you think what Luigi mentioned could be true? Looking forward into the future, is that who Edge is planning to revive?" Blaze questioned.

"Well, he told me he's not sure himself. But there's no way of knowing unless Edge _does_ become close to eradicating everything. And if he's involved in this resurrection…"

Peach stopped talking for a few seconds after they crossed the bridge and started walking down the grassy hill. She slightly looked behind to see the green man, whose eyes were focused on the Polterpup as he was playfully chasing butterflies. But just one good look, and the princess can sense the fear in his blue eyes.

"And if he's involved, what?" the bat pressed on.

"Oh, dear. I can't bear to think about it."

"Then, we might as well stop talking about it," concluded Blaze. "Let's refocus and make our way forward."

"How much further until we reach Chemical Plant?" Daisy asked Amy.

"It'll take some time. It's about a good five miles from here."

"Chao… Chao," Cheese complained, his voice sounded raspy.

"I know, Cheese. I wish we can stop to take a break. My feet are tired," Cream whimpered.

"Mine too, but we have no time to waste. We must carry on!" Amy stated with resilience.

Rouge rolled her eyes. "Remind me again why she's the team leader when she's more of a petty, pathetic cheerleader."

"Don't expect me to answer that," sassed Blaze.

After reaching the bottom of the hill, Peach stopped walking and looked at the younger Mario brother who was chomping on a Mushroom. "Luigi, are you alright?"

He shifted his eyes from Colombo who walked ahead of them and past the blonde princess. He swallowed the food and froze with silence as he didn't know how to answer her question.

At the same time, his mind was replaying his past nightmares yet again.

…

 _"You will be the one that will make my plan work. To destroy all worlds…"_

…

She expressed her concern once more. "Luigi, please talk to me. I'm one of your closest friends, and I'd be willing to listen if there's something wrong."

…

 _"I just wanted you join my side for personal reasons. You're the best vessel for the resurrection I plan to perpetrate."_

…

With depression evident on his face, Luigi sighed. "I'm sorry, Princess. There's just too much going through my head right now."

Peach furrowed her eyebrows. "Is this still about… him?"

…

 _"Ah, Luigi. It's good to see you again."_

…

The man shuddered, but he nodded afterwards. He looked down at the ground.

"That, and to this day, I'm frightened about everything that's happened over the past week. And even though I want to avenge everyone for what Myster Edge has caused, I'm starting to doubt myself on what I said earlier. You know, about getting revenge."

…

 _"I have to go to desperate measures against this green fool. If he dares to stop me, I'll force him to face someone I know he wouldn't hurt. And that's where_ _ **you**_ _come in."_

…

Peach sauntered up to him and kneeled as she placed her hands on his shoulders. "Luigi, I'm afraid as well. Not just about this whole destruction and world domination thing. I'm worried about you, too. I understand why you're scared, but deep down inside, somewhere in your heart, there's a glimmer of hope where you're strong and brave enough to overcome this. You're just like Mario, only a little more compassionate and less pugnacious. I know you're not one who likes to brawl. Nonetheless, you're a fighting man, Luigi. You just need to believe in yourself."

Luigi stared at the princess, observing her facial expressions. Based on her serious, yet concerned face, by no means did she say that stuff to make him feel better. She trusted him with all her might, the same way she had confidence in Mario. And the same way Mario had faith where he would never give up on him.

Going off-topic, he was still aware that he hadn't told Mario about what he dreamt that caused him to act schizophrenic at the castle yesterday.

 _"Maybe I should tell him before something bad really happens."_

But then he remembered part of his most recent incubus.

 _"But should I tell him about that, too?"_

His indecisiveness put him at an impasse. Then, his thoughts were interrupted when he heard some voices.

"Peach! Luigi! Hurry up!" Daisy called.

"Arf! Arf!" Colombo barked as well.

"Come on, we should catch up to them. But, I appreciate the thought, Princess."

She smiled. "You're welcome, Luigi. And don't worry. We'll be with you on this journey the whole way through. We will save Mario and the others."

The green plumber nodded and adjusted his hat. They quickly followed their friends as they tread past the rushing waterfalls.

* * *

Luigi, Colombo, and the girls finally reached the entrance to the Chemical Plant Zone. Another black hole could be seen from a far distance. This was the third place the group has seen the Oblivion in Sonic's dimension.

Peach and Daisy had to pinch their noses since they were uncomfortable from the noxious stench coming from the depths of the manufacture site. The others have gotten used to the landscape, except for Luigi and Colombo, but they did their best to ignore it.

Unlike the last two locations, Luigi has not encountered a single Evershade ghost in his travels. Mostly because this was a foreign world to the ghouls and they never stepped foot in, or rather entered, Mobius. Except one of them, which he knew he had to face later…

What he did come across, however, were some henchmen of Edge's army. Two identical robots floated down from above to impede the group in their tracks. The dark blue one of the left was named Proto; the one on the right was gray and known as Scythe. **_(3)_**

"Halt! Who dares to approach us in our hideout?" said Proto.

"First of all, this isn't 'your hideout' at all," Amy did an air quote with her fingers.

"That's where you're wrong, toots. This is our property now," Scythe spoke.

"Toots?! What are you robots trying to put up?" She pulled out her Piko Piko Hammer.

"We were chosen to defend the Chemical Plant Zone in the case someone tries to infiltrate the factory. By the looks of it, there are eight more than we expected."

Luigi didn't say a word as he knew from Scythe that he was the one expected to arrive.

"Let us through, or we'll have to do this the hard way!" Cream shouted.

"Chao!" Cheese narrowed his eyes.

"Aww, is the little bunny rabbit trying to act tough?" jeered Proto. "Heh, as if! All you girls have no chance to defeat us. Let alone, you probably can't defend yourselves!"

 _"Except I'm_ _ **not**_ _a girl, neither is Colombo, and you assholes don't know anything about my friends,"_ Luigi rolled his eyes. He knew how tough Amy, Blaze, and Rouge can be in combat. Cream and Cheese usually were on the sidelines, but this time they were determined to help out. Daisy can stand her own ground since she's not one who likes to give up. Peach has battled before many times when she's not a damsel in distress. And Polterpup can be a helping hand like his contribution in the fight against Overset.

"Hmph, I like to debunk that statement so badly," Daisy huffed as she dug out two Fire Flowers. "We are more than capable taking on a couple of idiotic robots like you." She tossed one over to Peach.

"I sure hope you won't mind if we heat things up a bit," warned the Mushroom Princess.

"And I can add myself onto the list of incinerating foes that get in our way," threatened Blaze as she summoned a flaming orb in her palm.

"This is gonna be good," Scythe snickered.

"Yeah, good for us when we kick your butts," Rouge teased.

"That's what you think," Proto sneered. "Shadelings, assemble!"

Moments later, the team found themselves surrounded by more of Edge's underlings as they flew in from the outskirts of Chemical Plant. There were sixteen more encircling them, which gives them double the number of members compared to the heroes' side.

"Hey! How is this even fair?!" Daisy complained.

"Who says that fights have to be fair?"

"Well, if you're gonna play like that, we'll make sure to take you all down!" Peach proclaimed.

She and Daisy took in the Fire Flower's powers as they turned into Fire Peach and Fire Daisy. Peach's dress turned white while the panniers became red. **_(4)_** Daisy's dress also transformed into white, only she had orange accessories. Luigi grabbed an Ice Flower from his pocket and converted into Ice Luigi. He was saving the Poltergust for later. But if necessary, he'll activate Shriek Shields to himself and his partners.

With the party getting into fighting position, they waited for a Shadeling to flinch and try to attack them.

Scythe revealed two curved, sharp blades, one on each of his knuckles. He was the first to make a move. Amy retaliated his action and swung her hammer horizontally. "HI-YAAAH!" She crashed the robot into two others, causing a three-way dogpile.

Proto was infuriated. "You dare attempt to take down my brother?! Then so be it. I won't show mercy whatsoever. Shadelings, attack!" He and the remaining rivals who were standing charged at them. They started firing lasers to and fro. Proto spewed out charged up particles known as Proton Orbs that left a trail of plus signs flying behind.

While trying their best to dodge, Blaze, Peach, and Daisy burned a couple by pelting fireballs. Luigi froze two enemies, leading to Rouge kicking one away from the ring while Cream swung her ears to hurt the other. Those Shadelings were bumped into the pink water. They became electrocuted from the liquid seeping in their circuits.

Cheese and Colombo teamed up to distract and stall two more mechs from getting in the way of the others. The Polterpup chomped on the legs and Cheese threw himself to thump them, causing their heads to malfunction and crackle with electricity. They fell backwards and became disabled as their mechanical bodies fell apart.

Amy smashed the robots that the girls scorched. Peach and Daisy used their parasols to whack them into the river. However, Scythe and the two Shadelings Amy hit at the beginning recovered and ran up to them by surprise.

"Oh no! Look out!" Daisy pointed at them. Peach and Amy let out screams of their own.

Luigi noticed this and sent three shields to defend the hedgehog and the princesses. And thankfully enough, the robots punched the barriers causing the girls to fly, yet they landed safely without getting hurt. Unfortunately for Scythe, both weapons got bent from the collision. They fell apart on the ground.

"You've got to be kidding me!"

As he was distracted, Blaze used her pyrokinesis and Luigi shot more ice balls to stun the foes.

Amy swiped some sweat off her bangs. "Phew… Thanks, Luigi."

He nodded back before he performed a stellar triple jump and crushed their noggins with a threefold chain jump. Scythe remained intact, but the Shadelings weren't so lucky as their bodies deteriorated.

After some more offensive tactics by the heroes, the enemy side was cut down to six. The twin bosses were still alive, but started to get weaker with every hit they received.

"Scythe! Shoot lasers at them!" commanded Proto as he released proton orbs at Rouge and Cream, who evaded them as they were fighting a different android.

"I wasn't programmed with lasers, you twit! Why do you think the boss named me 'Scythe'?! I only have blades for weapons, and that green dude caused damage to both of them! I have to wait for more to regenerate!"

"Well how long does it take?"

"Every five minutes. It's been about four right now." Scythe ducked from a pair of fireballs shot at him.

"Seriously? Why did the master make a decision like that?"

"I don't know! He thought it'd be okay, but it's stupid if you ask me."

"Ugh, just fight with your fists then. With or without blades!"

The gray mech witnessed another robot down from the bat and rabbit duo while the Chao and Polterpup destroyed another, leaving just four. As they teamed up to fight Proto, Scythe saw Peach, Daisy, Amy, Blaze, and Luigi going after the last two subordinates. He heard a dinging sound and two more blades popped out of his hands. He thought to himself, and if he had the face to express a smile, he'd do it with a wicked look.

Regardless, he planned a daring move.

As Luigi's group eviscerated the last two robots, none of them expected what happened next. With the sharp tool at the ready, he aimed his right knife at the man in green. With his back facing him, he didn't notice it until Peach cried out one second too late.

With panicked eyes, she gasped, "Luigi! Behind you!"

The mustachioed man rotated his body, only to be slashed on his left side. The sleeve got cut, his clothes reverted to their former colors, and the blade cut the surface of his skin.

"AAAHHH!" he yelped and grabbed his injured arm.

"Luigi!" Daisy cried.

He opened his eyes and quickly reacted to use a Shriek Shield for himself before Scythe could harm him a second time. However, pain was running through his veins as some blood stained the clothing and dripped from the wound. He fell backwards as Scythe gashed the barrier. It didn't cause it to burst or go away, keeping Luigi temporarily invincible as he flinched with soreness.

"This is for hurting him!" Blaze shouted with fury. She hurled another large fireball at Scythe, Peach and Daisy added more damage with their fireballs, and Amy jumped high in the air to slam the mallet on top of his head.

"OWW!" he face planted onto the floor.

"You so rightfully deserve this!" Amy grunted.

The princesses took out their parasols again to whack the gray robot into the river. Proto, who got wrecked by Rouge, Cream, Cheese, and Colombo, was heavily wheezing on the ground as he saw the defeat of his twin.

"Scythe! How dare you-" He didn't have a chance to finish as Rouge kicked the blue minion in the face so hard that he was sent flying into the water as well.

At long last, the team successfully took down the Shadeling guards. However, it wasn't a time to celebrate. Everyone huddled around Luigi. With his Shriek Shield gone, he remained on the floor as he covered the hole of his sleeve. More red liquid stained his right glove. Peach and Daisy's dresses returned to their original presence.

"Mr. Luigi! Are you okay?!" Cream covered her mouth in terror.

Luigi breathed heavily, but he tried his best to not make her or anyone else panic. "I'll be… fine. I've already been in worse conditions before."

Colombo whimpered at the sight of his owner in anguish again. Peach and Daisy were the most worried. To see him hurt like this ached their hearts. The pink princess kneeled near him and started to take off her gloves.

"Peach, what are you doing?" Amy curiously asked.

"Here, Luigi. I'll wrap these around your arm."

"What? No way," he shook his head. "Those are yours."

Peach refused. "I won't take 'no' for an answer. I don't want to risk you passing out from a big loss. Besides, the gloves aren't that big of a deal to me."

Luigi reluctantly let her nurse him as she tied them over the bloody spot.

"Feeling better, Greenie?" Rouge raised an eyebrow.

"Better, but not much."

"You going to be alright, though?" wondered Blaze.

"I'll deal with it. Like I said, I've handle worse before."

Peach and Daisy could tell he was referring to his comatose state after the night of his birthday. Wondering if something like that happened to him again would be traumatic.

"Well, if you need any help, or if you want take a break, don't hesitate to stop us. We don't want to rush things if it means to leave you behind," Amy sympathized.

Luigi got on his feet with the help of the princesses pulling him up. "I appreciate it, Amy. But that's the least of my problems. We have to find Mario, Sonic, and everyone else before the Oblivion grows, or whatever it does, that would mark the end of all worlds."

"You do have a point. Nonetheless, we just want you to be safe," said Daisy.

"I understand. Now, let's head on in."

"Chao! Chao!"

"Bark!"

As they entered the industrial zone, Luigi followed everyone like before, but stopped for a second. He turned around to see what was behind him. Nothing but the broken body parts of the Shadelings he, Colombo, and the girls took down.

However, he thought he heard something.

He had another suspicion that someone was spying on him. Eventually, he ran to catch up with the rest of the party. Although he doubted himself at first, he didn't know that he was initially right. There was an entity prying on the green clad hero. He cackled to himself. His taunting laugh created an echo that sent shivers down Luigi's spine.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I know this chapter is filler, but I decided to add a little action at the end to make it somewhat interesting. The boss fight of Chemical Plant Zone will begin soon though. The catch is, who will Luigi face? (Yes, it's the Shrewd Possessor, but what exactly will he possess?) And can he withstand the battle with an injury?_

 _Stay alert for the next update, and thanks for reading! Leave a review if you want, follow/favorite, and I'll see you guys later! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Believe it or not, Knuckles is playable in_ _Sonic Mania_ _, so technically he has been through CPZ. However, he was not part of the original adventure when Sonic and Tails ventured through it back in_ _Sonic 2_ _._

 ** _(2):_** _One of my biggest pet peeves from_ _SMS_ _was the introduction to this game, when the Piantas accused Mario of polluting Isle Delfino with the goop, even though he arrived_ _ **after**_ _the crime occurred. That, and he isn't a blue shadow figure holding a graffiti paintbrush. (Stupidity at its finest, ladies and gentlemen.)_

 ** _(3):_** _Scythe and Proto are two more of Edge's top henchmen. For this scene, Scythe's biggest trait were his sharp-cutting blades, and Proto utilizes Proton Orbs, a weaker electrical attack compared to Edge's lightning strikes. But like Rocco, they were unsuccessful with their task._

 ** _(4):_** _Fire Peach's design is based off her appearance in_ _Super Mario 3D World_ _._


	41. Ch 40: The Taming of the Shrewd

_A/N: For those who purchased and have played  Super Mario Odyssey, how do you like the game? (Please refrain from posting any spoilers though.) And for those planning to get Sonic Forces, what are you anticipating on the most? The custom avatars, story plot, gameplay, graphics, music, etc.?_

 _Plus, it's time for Luigi to survive another boss fight. Can he persevere and recover the penultimate Dark Moon piece?_

* * *

 _Disclaimer: Is it necessary to repeat this? Probably not. Regardless, I don't own anything related to Mario or Sonic._

* * *

 **Chapter 40:** The Taming of the Shrewd **_(1)_**

 _Location: Edge's HQ_

Myster Edge resided back to the Vanilla Dome to reevaluate his next approach on manipulating Luigi. He was sitting in his large chair, staring at the supercomputer with a blank expression. He kept moving his fingers around the scepter while rubbing his left hand over his chin.

 _"Hmm… What to do, what to do…"_

He was thinking of another attack on him like he's done for the past three times. **_(2)_** He wasn't going to let the plumber off the hook despite all the torment he caused. After all, the malicious villain enjoyed it whenever Luigi suffered under his hands. Or rather, from his staff with the seven Chaos Emeralds inside. He had grown more potent with the energy of the Dark Shards that helped construct the Oblivion. Edge felt that he was basically unstoppable at this point. He believed no one could overthrow him or his master plan.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on his chamber door. He looked at the security camera and responded through the microphone. "Alpha, come on in." The red door opened for the robot to enter. He rotated his chair and stood up to face him.

"Myster Edge. I have come to report some news."

Edge made a face where he looked conflicted. "Good or bad?"

"Both, sir."

Lowering his eyebrows, he replied, "Tell me the bad news first."

Alpha nodded. "My sensors indicated a setback that took place in the Chemical Plant Zone. The Shadelings you instructed to take the prisoners to that location, which included two from your main line, Proto and Scythe, were defeated by the man in green. It's also likely that he received backup from his friends. More specifically, those prisoners who were held captive here."

Even though Edge was furious internally, his face voided any signs of expression. Frankly, he was somewhat surprised of the outcome. Key word, _somewhat_.

"Continue…"

"Most of the robots who were guarding the zone were part of that loss. So that branch of the army was cut down by over half. The remaining ones are still in Chemical Plant, waiting to stall your enemy. But, in my opinion, I have a feeling that he and his friends will take down all of them. And, he will likely surmount against Shrewd. Considering he's already captured the first three Possessors, there's a solid chance that the fourth will not be successful in defeating the man in green. At this rate, he will encounter the Tough Possessor, catch him, and eventually confront you at the most inopportune moment."

"Hmph… He can have the power, tools, and abilities to stop the ghosts. But even with all that, it is impossible for him to defeat me."

"I just wanted to stress this out though. What if he learns about the powers of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Moon pieces combined? From what I heard, he transformed back at the Giant Skewer Tower. What if he finds out about the reason why it happened?"

"There are two reasons why it happened. One of them is related to his past. The other makes him become stronger than normal. That's how he was able to take down those incompetent Koopas. However, if he does learn the cause behind that secret, I'll make sure he doesn't utilize it against me."

"Sire, not that I'm jumping to conclusions or foreshadowing the future, but… what if he _does_ use his surprising powers to overcome you?"

Edge slammed the pointed end of his staff onto the cavern floor. Alpha didn't flinch, but he could tell his master was stubborn. "As I stated before, it is impossible for him to defeat _me_."

From that, the robot couldn't tell if he was being arrogant or serious. Maybe both, but more towards the serious side. Although he was somewhat bothered by his overconfidence, he didn't express anything negative. "Whatever you say, my lord."

The Shadow Spirit narrowed his eyes, feeling displeased from his minion's response. He didn't comment on it though. "Are you finished speaking with me?"

There was silence for a few seconds before Alpha answered. "I suppose so."

"Then take your leave."

Edge reopened the door, and watched the robot walk out of the headquarters. After locking it up, he returned to his control panel. Slouching back in his seat, he stared at the photo of his deceased friend on the small screen.

"That inept plumber is getting closer to saving all his friends. He may appear to be a hero, he may be considered as one based on past experiences, but he won't be capable enough to overcome my ultimate form. Not even he or his little companions can stop me from bringing you back, nor will they trounce you once you do return. I'll eventually destroy him and everyone else. His friends, his ghost pup, his family…"

 _Family._

"Wait a minute…"

An image of Mario popped in his head.

"Ah, yes. The older brother. The short, red, plump man. The one who's more famous and popular since _he's_ usually the hero of this damn world."

A light bulb lit up. A sinister smile appeared from his lips, showing his white teeth.

"Maybe I shouldn't have sent him to Chemical Plant. However, if that green guy does happen to rescue him and the others, I guess it can sort of work out in my favor."

A wicked chuckle came from the villain as he shifted his eyes at the picture of Luigi found on the monitor left of the dead individual. He had already devised another ambush. But this time, it wasn't towards his primary target.

* * *

 _Location: Chemical Plant Zone_

As the group entered the beginning section of the zone, they came across another round of Shadelings. They got into position, and charged at their opponents. While Luigi and Colombo focused on defense, the girls shouted battle cries as they clashed against the androids.

"Urgh! Take that!" Rouge slammed into a Shadeling's head.

"Oof! Gotcha!" Blaze torched a separate one.

"That's another one down!" Daisy yelled after crushing her parasol into a small, gray minion.

"Swing and a drive, and he's outta here!" Amy watched the robot fly into the distance from the impact of her hammer.

A few more mechs were taken down. Meanwhile, Luigi was on the cautious side since his left arm remained stinging in pain. He tried his best not to aggravate the injury. At one point, he activated the Poltergust and sent a Shriek Shield to Peach when she almost got ambushed by an incoming Shadeling from behind. Colombo helped the rabbit and Chao turn invisible when they, too, were nearly waylaid. Because of their temporary invincibility, they cleared the rest of the baddies.

"Yeah! We got rid of those bad people!" Cream cheered as Cheese squealed with joy next to her.

"Nicely done, everyone!" Peach complimented. "Let's move on!"

"Arf! Arf!"

Along the way, they had to travel at high speeds to avoid being crushed by the machines or the other technological mechanisms that were built in the cityscape. With intertwining paths, large loop-de-loops, spring platforms, and tubing networks, this was one of the toughest and most complex areas to traverse through, especially for the Mushroom Kingdom inhabitants since they had little to no experience about the place. However, everyone was unscathed during that portion.

After passing through a corridor with floating, blue chemical bubbles, Rouge glided ahead to scope out the land in front of her. And within a range of five miles, she spotted something. Other than the Oblivion that was slowly rotating in the sky, she saw two suspended cages in midair.

"Everyone!" she called as the gang caught up to her. "I think I found them!"

They turned their heads in the direction she saw the prisons. Within one of them, there was a mix of red, light green, blue, and yellow. In the other was a combination of yellow and red.

"It is them! We're almost there!" Amy jumped off the ledge and ran. She was followed by Cream, Blaze, and Cheese while Rouge coasted with her wings.

Colombo hopped down and waited for the plumber and the princesses. After Daisy and Peach landed, they looked up to see Luigi, his face looking back at the hallway.

"Luigi, come on down already," said Daisy.

The younger brother didn't budge though. He was distracted by something.

"Luigi, what's wrong?" Peach asked. Colombo whined and tilted his head, wondering what was on his mind.

He continued to stand and stare at nothing. It made the others worry considering he hasn't said a word since the fight against Proto and Scythe.

 _"Why do I keep getting that same feeling that someone's watching me?"_

"Luigi! Answer us, please!"

He turned around at Daisy's plea. Seeing the three at the bottom of the five-foot wall, he swallowed the lump in his throat, and pulled on the collar of his shirt with two fingers, scratching his neck. He also adjusted the vacuum on his back as it was in an awkward position because his left arm felt weak.

"Why aren't you speaking to us?" the flower princess prolonged her interrogation.

He breathed deeply through his nose, and let out a long exhale. He descended to the ladies who maintained their anxious looks. "I'm sorry. I was… I…" he stuttered with hesitation.

"You were what?"

He couldn't think of a legitimate answer. "I… Uh- Never mind. J-Just forget it." From the denied response, Daisy was visibly upset. Peach was not as agitated as her tomboy friend, but she felt empathetic towards him.

"Are you still hot and bothered from your arm, Luigi? If you aren't, and you're not bleeding anymore, we can take the gloves off and dispose them."

Luigi shook his head at Peach's offer. "Oh no. It's sore, but I don't feel dizzy or unconscious whatsoever. Just fatigued."

"Is that why you hesitated when we called for you?"

"No, Daisy. I just… thought I heard something."

"And what was it?"

"I don't know. Maybe my mind's playing games with me."

"Bark! Bark!" The Polterpup got their attention to tell everyone they're falling behind the Sonic gang.

"You're right, Colombo. Come on, guys. We need to catch up to them," said Peach.

"You ready, Luigi?"

His eyes said 'not really', but what came out of his mouth was, "I guess so."

Daisy frowned at Luigi's lack of confidence. But there a small glimmer of hope where she believed he was strong enough to continue their mission. By then, the four ran forward to find Amy, Blaze, and the others.

But as they left, a figure arose from the shadows of the machinery. His glowing eyes focused on the green clad Italian. He made a sound to indicate that his prey was approaching the prisoners. He made his next move, flying through a different section of the zone to avoid being detected.

* * *

"Over here!" Amy called to the four who ran up to them. "We were wondering where you were since we didn't see you guys from behind."

"Sorry. That's my bad," Luigi apologized.

Cream walked up to him. "Is your arm still hurting, Mr. Luigi?"

He levitated his arm and slightly bent his elbow. "A little, but don't worry about it."

"If you say so."

"Come on, guys. Let's keep walking," urged Blaze. She led the line with Amy as Cream, Cheese, and Peach followed, with Rouge, Colombo, Luigi, and Daisy behind at the caboose.

"We're almost there, Green. Just hang in there," the bat winked at him. Embarrassed, Luigi tried hiding his blush, causing the orange princess to raise an eyebrow.

When Rouge decided to fly up to Blaze and Amy, she whispered to the man. "Sounds like she's flirting with you. Kinda weird, don't you think?"

"W-What? N-No. She was probably offering moral support."

"Are you crushing on her?"

Luigi sputtered with disbelief. "What?! D-Daisy! I am not!" Thankfully, he didn't burst out loud for the others to hear him.

"I'm just kidding, Weege! Come on, let's go," she ran forward next to Peach.

Luigi, who was strolling slowly beside Colombo, moaned and facepalmed his forehead. "Mamma Mia…"

Colombo could only react with a tilted head, filled with confusion.

* * *

A few minutes elapsed as the party reached the far limits of Chemical Plant. After crossing a river with moving platforms, they reached a large, circular dome. It drew comparisons to the rock stage in Vanilla Dome where Luigi fought the Grouchy Possessor. Except they were on a solid metal platform surrounded by lethal water that waded around surface level, with ground segments that could make them fall below if they stay on too long or fail to watch their step. Right in front of them, floating high in the cells, were the captives.

"Mario! There are you!" Peach shouted from below.

The red plumber turned around in surprise, his heart pounded when he heard the princess' voice. The rest of the hostages looked outside to find Luigi, Colombo, and the girls standing from ten stories underneath them. "Peach!" His heart leapt again when he saw his brother. "Luigi! Everyone, you're finally here!" However, his smile went to a frown when he noticed his bloody arm.

"We're here to set you guys free!" Daisy hollered. Cheese and Colombo made eager sounds to follow up on her statement.

"About time, too!" Sonic exclaimed.

"How did you guys get trapped like this?" Luigi inquired.

"They put us in these cages and suspended us like this. I may be okay with astronomical heights, but this feels unorthodox since we're stuck," Tails explained.

"The question is, how do we get you down from up there?" Blaze wondered.

Rouge soared to the prison holding Eggman, Knuckles, and the robots. "Hmm, these chain links sure are strong," she inspected while giving it a few tugs. "I don't think we can cut through them even if we had something sharp."

"I was thinking about spin dashing the bars to swing the cages and disable the chain. But I didn't want to risk anyone getting hurt if we took a large fall into the river," mentioned Sonic.

"Do you know how we can bring you down?" asked Cream.

"Yes, it's quite simple, actually. There's a switch on that wall over there," Orbot pointed at a bulky handle down below and to his left. However, it was separated by a gap so wide, not even Luigi could make a far enough jump to make it. Not only that, but it was encased in a glass case with a lock.

"But the thing's out of reach, as you can see. Plus, you need the key to unlock the barricade that's blocking it, as well as the keys to our prisons," Cubot said.

"You're kidding," Daisy huffed.

"That's it? Just a lever?" Amy sounded disappointed. "That's as pathetic as a button Harsh used to detain me, DK, and Diddy in the Monkey Mines."

"But pulling the switch should allow the chains to unravel from the ceiling spools. That has to bring them down, right?" Peach asked.

"Correct, even though it was obvious from the beginning. Now go find the keys!" Eggman ordered.

"Geez, you're so impatient, Eggman. Your character still hasn't changed one bit," Rouge taunted from outside the metal columns.

"I don't have time to hear more sass, even from you, Ms. Batty Eyes!"

"Hey, guys. Are you also aware that Edge has now summoned that dark, scary hole in the sky?" Yoshi brought up.

"Unfortunately, yes," Luigi answered. "We don't have much time before we-"

"Luigi, look out!"

Mario's warning made his brother shift his body around, only to be shot in the chest by a laser.

"AAHHH!"

"LUIGI!" Peach and Daisy yelled in shock. Everyone saw the green man land on the ground, his Poltergust cushioning the fall, but not in a good way. Mario was instantly worried.

"Oh my god! Are you alright?" Amy concernedly asked as she and Blaze pulled him up. Thankfully, it wasn't a fatal shot because he was breathing. Scratch that, he was wheezing.

"Ugh… No… I don't- Ow!" He winced in pain. He leaned forward to support his hands on his knees while catching his breath.

"Where did that laser come from?!" said Tails.

"I think I know who," Sonic growled. "Come out here, you faker!"

"Faker?" Yoshi, Knuckles, Orbot, and Cubot repeated.

Soon after that, everyone heard a mechanical sound. Although they've heard many of those within this setting, this one was more distinct and recognizable. And all, but Colombo, has heard of that noise before.

By then, another laser shot out of nowhere. The girls promptly jumped to the sides as they evaded the projectile.

"Goodness!" Peach cried.

Cream hugged Cheese tightly. "That was close!"

Amy stood up, got out her mallet, and looked back at the blue hedgehog. "Sonic, who were you talking about when you said 'Faker'?"

"Don't you usually call Shadow that?" Rouge thought.

"It's not Shadow. It's my other doppelganger. _Metal_." **_(3)_**

On cue when his name was stated, the antagonist flew into the stage, confronting Luigi, Colombo, and the girls. He slowly lowered to the ground from his flying ability.

"It is Metal Sonic!" Orbot was surprised.

"How did he manage to get here? I thought you were fixing him up for repairs after Sonic whooped him into next week!" Cubot directed as his master, earning another grunt from him.

"I _was_ supposed to fix him. But I had my own matters at hand."

"Such as being a terrible leader, stuffing your large stomach until it explodes, and trying to find ways to defeat me, only to end up in total disgrace?"

"Would you screw off, you blue, spiky mouse?!"

"Ugh… And there he goes with the whole 'rat' thing."

"Give it a rest, Sonic," Knuckles muttered.

Rouge flew back down to the group as they got into fighting positions, save for Luigi. Daisy narrowed her eyes. "So, you're the one who hurt Luigi, isn't that right?"

Although Metal Sonic did not speak, he responded with an electronic beep. **_(4)_** His red, glowing eyes with the black sclera expressed an intimidating stare towards the princess. It didn't scare her, but it did frighten her significant other.

Luigi gulped as he slowly composed himself from the first laser. Taking a close look at him, this Metal Sonic wasn't the one back in the Olympics where he tried to exploit his skills and speed for gold medals. He looked like the version where he was intended to destroy Sonic and claim how superior he was compared to the Mobian hero. The only slight difference was based on his appearance. From the yellow depression in his robotic chest, it was usually black in the center. There was also a trail of smoke emitting from inside, likely from the two lasers he deployed. However, a purple glow shined brightly in the same spot. That could only mean one thing…

"It's the Shrewd Possessor."

Blaze turned to him. "Shrewd?"

"But that's Metal Sonic! He doesn't look like a ghost," Cream whimpered.

"Yes, but he must've infiltrated Eggman's base after entering this world. You see that purple light? That has to be from a Dark Moon piece. He's taken possession of the robot. The Possessor must have revived him in that sense. So that means Metal is alive, but controlled by an evil spirit," he assumed.

"Well either way, we're gonna have to give this robot a beating!" Amy declared.

"Hey! Don't you dare try to dismantle my enforcer!"

"You rather to be stuck here for the rest of your life? Or at least until you wait for the Oblivion to swallow you whole?" Knuckles crossed his arms at Eggman.

"Grr… Fine! Obliterate him by all means! Just make sure you don't demolish him into a million pieces!"

"Honestly, I'd be 100% down with that," Sonic gave a cocky grin.

"Guys, please be careful!" called Tails.

As the green clad man stood up straight, Daisy got his attention. "Luigi, leave the offense to us! Just focus on the Possessor once we force him out of Metal!"

He nodded and grasped the hose of the Poltergust 6000. Despite the singed overalls and shirt, as well as his feeble arm, he needed to defeat Metal and Shrewd. He didn't have a choice to surrender. Colombo was by his side, leaning back on all fours and growling at Sonic's clone. Plus, they were playing with power. **_(5)_** Girl power. And a Chao. Altogether, they were not to be underestimated.

Peach and Daisy decided to use Ice Flowers for this battle. Their dresses transformed into different shades of white and blue. Blaze, Amy, Rouge, Cream, and Cheese prepared themselves to utilize their own physical traits. All of them had to be on their feet without fail as they faced a formidable, menacing enemy who's known for his ruthless demeanor. Technically it was a ghost within his body. But for sure, they all knew this match was going to be as tough as or probably harder than the fight against Proto and Scythe.

Metal Sonic made the first move, and rocketed towards the heroes. Peach and Daisy dodged to the side and shot a few ice balls at them. Metal easily avoided them as he focused on Luigi.

When he wasn't looking, Rouge gave a mighty kick in the back of Metal, pushing him into range of Amy who swung her hammer. Metal's trajectory went towards Blaze who threw a blazing fireball at the metal double. It hit the chest, but it wasn't too severe. As he landed back on the ground, he shot lasers, exclusively at Luigi. The man had to roll and duck as he ran around the stage. Cream threw her partner at the head, and the Chao rebounded off him, avoiding the sharp spikes. Cheese caused a small nudge, but it barely fazed him. Colombo clenched the robot's leg with his mouth, yet Metal shook him off. The princesses took the chance to throw more ice at Metal to freeze the red shoes. Unfortunately, he broke through the solid blocks in a cinch.

"I don't think our ice powers will suffice!" Peach yelled at her friend.

"Then let's break out the umbrellas!" Daisy charged at him.

Luigi heard a disturbing sound coming from Metal Sonic. Taking no chances, he shot two Shriek Shields at the princesses as they ran up to the robot. And as he predicted, the robot aimed his silvery metal claws to injure them. But the Shriek Shields got there in time as they approached Metal. The enemy slashed the impermeable barriers that surrounded Daisy and Peach. While invincible, they simultaneously whipped their weapons to whack him. But, he recovered instantly. He zoomed at high speed, forcing the party to split up and dodge again.

"Darn it! How much damage does this guy have to take to get that ghost out?" Rouge bellowed.

"I don't know! But there has to be a way!" Blaze threw more fire.

"Aah! This is too scary to be a part of!" Cream terrifyingly yelled as she ran behind Amy.

"Chao!" Cheese whimpered.

"I know this is dangerous for you, Cream, but we're gonna stick together! We can't back down now!" the pink hedgehog emphasized.

Luigi continued to run around the stage, entranced by Metal's glare with his red pupils. Mario, watching from high above, was scared. No. He was _extremely terrified_. Much more than any of the previous times he saw him fight a Possessor. Like in every other case, one bad move and Luigi could actually be in peril. Or worse.

"Do you think leading him into the chemicals will work?" suggested Tails.

"But he's waterproof! How else would he have competed in the swimming events?" recalled Sonic.

"Maybe it's worth a try, though," Luigi thought as he evaded what was a laser shot at him for the umpteenth time.

"What are you talking about, Luigi?" Peach wondered.

Hoping Metal, or rather Shrewd, wouldn't hear, he whispered to her. "Metal Sonic isn't vulnerable to the chemicals, but the Possessor itself might be. I'll try to lead him to one of the unsafe squares. Find an opening to attack so he can fall into the water."

Peach understood the plan, and ran to the others to pass the message. Meanwhile, Luigi stuck to his intentions, running around to avoid Metal Sonic's lasers and waiting for any moment to defend his allies with the shields. As the girls got word of the strategy, they continued their onslaught. Rouge used physical hits, Amy, Daisy, and Peach provided their weapons, Cream and Cheese teamed up as an underdog duet, Blaze controlled her psychic fire ability, and Colombo was available for his own strengths, including invisibility.

The Sonic duplicate soared downward to run into Luigi, avoiding all the girls. However, the plumber shielded himself as soon as he got close. Metal rushed into the barrier, pushing Luigi in the process, yet he stayed safe. The robot stopped onto the surface, conveniently on top of a bad segment. Metal was about to blast another beam until Daisy and Peach slammed their umbrellas on his shoulders.

As he was caught off guard, Rouge thumped into him, Blaze shot fire in his chest, and Cream and Cheese performed a jump on his face as he laid on the segment. Staying idle for a few seconds, the section fell apart. The robot splashed into the bubbling liquid.

After a few seconds, everyone saw Metal emerge from below, his metallic frame blazed in red as he overheated. And it was the right call as Shrewd exited Metal's body, leaving the robot as if he was shut down. The Possessor shook his head, revealing himself for the first time. Four horns were shown on his head, two extending to the side and two facing outward. White lines were found all over his figure. And the purple glow from the moon fragment was the center of attention.

He charged up his homing attack. Luigi, however, knew this was a problem. Because the edge of the stage was far away from the surrounding wall, if he were to run into it, he might not be in range to stun him with the Strobulb. So, he gambled on a tactic.

 _"It's worked in the past, so I'll do it again."_

He stood his ground without moving a muscle. Colombo and the girls, however, moved out of Shrewd's path.

When Daisy saw that Luigi wasn't running away, she was wondering what he was doing. "Luigi, run away!"

Mario heard this and saw the same scenario. "Weege! Get the hell out of dodge!"

But he didn't listen. Everyone felt tense, even Eggman when he didn't show it. He lingered, his right hand grabbing the 6000's hose.

 _"Almost there…"_

Once Shrewd was about to ram into him, Luigi pushed the green button to protect himself a second time. The boss collided into the barrier and was effectively dazed. He stunned him with the Strobulb and turned on the suction power. He dragged his feet against the floor as Shrewd resisted. He also jumped when the Possessor led him to the open hole in the floor, losing his maximum power. But he refilled the gauge and removed the white layer of the ghoul's skin.

"Yeah! Great job, Luigi!" shouted Yoshi.

"One down, two more to go!" Sonic raised a fist in excitement.

"You can do it, Luigi!" Tails cheered.

Shrewd re-entered Metal Sonic's body, which was cooled down. The two red eyes lit up again. He rose into the air and immediately shot more purple rays at the protagonists. They did the same strategy, only Colombo got into the action when he bit Metal's left leg. He pulled him down to the ground, allowing the princesses and Amy to slam their arsenal at him.

Metal Sonic soared across the stage and fell onto another loose segment. Falling into the chemicals a second time, Shrewd left the robot, feeling angrier than before. He repeated his actions, except he rushed at the girls.

With six shields left, Luigi shot three of them. One secured Peach and Daisy, another protected Blaze, Rouge, and Amy, and the last defended Cream and Cheese. They ran in close proximity to keep the shields intact. Colombo concealed his owner by touching him with his paw. Shrewd happened to run into the princesses' barrier. Peach and Daisy got bumped, but they barely avoided falling into the water.

"Oh! That was close!" Peach shrieked.

"Luigi, get him now!" Daisy commanded.

He reappeared and ran up to the dizzy Possessor. After shining him with the flashlight, he sucked up the second coating. The red-skinned ghost went to desperate measures by the time he revived Metal Sonic.

In the meantime, more Shadelings entered the arena to divert the girls who were susceptible after their shields disappeared.

He fired another set of lasers from his chest. One of which landed two feet in front of Luigi as he was running. He was surprised that he tripped from his poor traction. He fell forward and landed on the metal surface.

"Luigi! Hurry and get up!" Mario warned.

However, he lifted his head to see Metal Sonic land in front of him. He grabbed him by the neck and started to choke the Italian. For dear life, Luigi placed his hands over Metal's claw that squished the throat, starting to lose his breath rapidly. He wasn't strong enough to pry his hand off him.

"Luigi!" Mario started panicking, which was unnatural of him.

Daisy was infuriated that she ran behind and aimed at Metal Sonic with her parasol again. "Don't worry, Luigi! I'll get him!"

He rotated his head to notice her. With his quick instincts, the clone stopped her with his other claw, catching her by the waist.

"Hey! Let me go!" she struggled in his clutch.

"Daisy!" Peach extended a hand in fear.

"D-Don't… y-you… d-dare hurt… her," Luigi struggled to say as he was being choked.

Metal slowly turned back to the helpless plumber. Expressing no emotion and emitting another careless beep, he aggressively threw Luigi across the gap. He slammed into the wall very badly.

"LUIGI!" Mario and Daisy yelled.

Colombo and the rest of the girls were shaken. Knuckles, Tails, Sonic, and Yoshi all cringed from the impact. It's like they could feel the excruciating pain he suffered. Eggman was indifferent, but he didn't comment on the scene. Neither did Orbot or Cubot, but they were more sympathetic and startled.

As Luigi fell down, he was about to plunge into the pink waters. But not until a little bit of help came his way.

"I got you! You're not gonna leave us now!" Rouge carried him in her arms. She set him down far away from Metal, who was trying to shoot the other heroes as they tried to keep the Shadelings at bay. "You okay?"

Luigi slowly opened his eyes and groaned. "No… H-Hand me a… Mushroom… In m-my p-pocket…"

The bat obliged and dug her hand in the overalls, finding the red fungus. She gave it to him, and he quickly swallowed the item. Feeling slightly invigorated, he returned to his feet.

"Okay," he gulped. "Let's get back."

Rouge nodded and they returned to the fight. The girls managed to stop the Shadelings who interfered. When he saw Metal holding onto his special one, Luigi was agitated and cross.

"Glad to see you're back. We've almost got him," told Blaze as said robot was flying in the air with Daisy, shooting ray after ray.

Eggman was impatient. "Are you gonna get rid of that stupid ghost or not?!"

"Don't rush Luigi, Egghead! He's only human!" Amy defended him.

"So am I, but if I was in his shoes, I would actually use my intelligence to take him down more easily and quickly than how he's doing!"

Luigi overheard the backtalk, drawing comparisons to when Bowser was criticizing him.

"Would you lay off of my brother?" Mario barked at him.

"Well maybe if he wasn't so incompetent, he would've defended himself!"

"Didn't you see him with an injured arm? Are you blind through those horrible glasses of yours?" Sonic snarled.

"It doesn't hurt to play defense to fight someone," Tails reasoned.

"I'm just saying that he looks pathetic down there. I've seen my Badniks be more resilient in battles!"

A strong, threatening sensation piled up in Luigi's heart.

"Of course you would bring up your robots in this discussion," Knuckles rolled his eyes in annoyance.

"Orbot! Cubot! Back me up here! Aren't my robots strong and powerful?!"

"Um, I wouldn't exactly agree on that."

"And Sonic's a lot more skilled than them anyway. Why else would he easily defeat them?"

"You two are pathetic!"

"Give it a rest, already. What you said can be debunked and you know it," Tails grunted.

"Well there's something else everyone should know. We wouldn't be here in the first place had Green 'Stache did something besides getting shocked by that insolent shadow!"

"AARGHHH!" Luigi silenced everyone when he snapped.

Mario glanced at him with widened eyes. "Is he…" He saw his brother glowing, in the same state he was back at the Giant Skewer Tower. Sonic and Tails were also staggered by the sight of Luigi.

With white eyes, purple light, and electrical volts around his fists, he extended his hands out to send two bolts at the enemy. Metal Sonic released Daisy, and she landed in Luigi's arms. She was frightened out of her mind as she looked away from his deathly stare. Metal cried out malfunctioning sounds as his body twitched from the currents coursing throughout his limbs.

By then, Shrewd was forced out a third time while Metal Sonic's corpse was obliterated and torn apart before it sunk in the liquid. As he saw him charging, Luigi set down Daisy without saying a word. He just stood there. Shrewd came in fast. Luigi effortlessly extended his hand to send another bolt of thunder at the ghost. He didn't even use a Shriek Shield. Shockingly enough, Shrewd stopped in his tracks from the surprise assault. The man had him in the bag. The Strobulb lit up, the Poltergust sucked, and the Possessor was no more. He was trapped in the vacuum as it shook heavily. The fifth Dark Moon piece popped out of the nozzle, alongside a ring with three keys on it.

He put the hose back in place and ambled silently towards the fragment. He picked it up, examined its corrupted state, and put it in his pocket without saying anything, not even a celebratory 'Yahoo!'.

Rouge grabbed the keys off the floor and opened the case with the lever. Once she pulled it, the cages descended to the stage. She flew back to unlock the cells. Sonic, Tails, and the prisoners ran out to the rest of the group who stood there watching Luigi, his back facing them as he remained glowing.

"Luigi?" Mario walked up to him. "Weege, are you alright?"

Daisy followed behind. "Luigi, it's us," she pleaded.

He didn't respond. He only shifted his head to face them. His eyes, filled with pure white, were very unnerving. His entire face, with lowered eyebrows and a frown, was devoid of any emotion. But then, he closed his eyelids. Mario tilted his head in confusion.

When he reopened his eyes, the aura around him subdued. His pupils reformed to a bright blue. The two were relieved at first, up until he blinked once before slowly closing them as he lost consciousness.

"Luigi? Luigi?!" Mario fell on his knees and shook his brother. "Fratello, answer me!" He searched for a pulse. It was present, but faint.

"Mario?" Peach joined them, only to see the lying figure of the green man. She placed her hands over her heart.

"He's alive. But not in good condition," he said without looking up.

Sonic was the next to speak up. "Let's get him to Station Square ASAP. We don't have a lot of time."

Mario simply nodded as he and Daisy carried him by the arms. He prayed to himself. _"Don't leave us now, bro. We need you. I need you. I just hope you're there for yourself as well."_

With that, the reunited party started the long trek back to the city. The red man couldn't help but repeatedly stare at his unconscious sibling. He was absolutely nervous, for Grambi's sake. But there was yet another thought on his mind.

 _"What was that all about?"_

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _This was another long, stressful chapter to write since I've been dealing with college. Luigi is very close to recovering the entire Dark Moon. However, that boss battle finished rather unexpected for everyone. What will become of Luigi this time? Does Mario or anyone else have any idea on what occurred? And what exactly is Edge formulating?_

 _Thanks for reading as usual. Be sure to follow/favorite, leave a review, and I'll see you guys in Ch. 41! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _This title is a pun based off one of Shakespeare's works, The Taming of the Shrew._

 ** _(2):_** _Prior to this, Luigi has been hurt by Myster Edge in Ch. 11, 24, and 34. I'm not including the time he got harmed in Ch. 30 because that scene took place in one of his nightmares._

 ** _(3):_** _LEGOSonicCraggerFan had the intuition that Shrewd would possess a Sonic character, and she was right on the money! Like I did with Gooper Blooper and Overset, the Possessor took control of Metal Sonic because I wanted to integrate him into the story. But since he's a character on his own, I had to add some limitations for this scene to work._

 ** _(4):_** _I've read a couple fanfictions that feature Metal Sonic where he does not have any dialogue, while others do give him text to speak. For this story, I decided to make him the silent type since he canonically doesn't talk in the games._

 ** _(5):_** _The NES had a catchphrase where the people were 'playing with power'. I just wanted to make a small reference._


	42. Ch 41: Dejection

_A/N: WARNING- To start things off, there is some intimate content featured in here. When you see three asterisks ( ******* ) followed by a disclaimer, please skip to the concluding A/N and PCN if you are uncomfortable reading it. Keep in mind that this fanfic is still rated T. I'm not breaking the boundaries on that._

 _Secondly, I can't contain my excitement and appreciation. It's been almost 11 months since I published Hidden Bravery on FFN. And last Monday, because of you viewers, it has accumulated over **10,000**_ **_hits_** _! I want to thank everyone out there who spent the time to read my story! You have made me so pumped up about this achievement. I can't thank you enough to express how I feel._

 _And third, Happy Thanksgiving week! I hope everyone has a safe holiday (and doesn't get hurt from Black Friday sales). Now let's get back to HB!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer: It's the same as always. The story and my OCs are created by me. Mario and Sonic belong to Nintendo and Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 41:** Dejection

 _Location: ?_

Darkness.

Silence.

Nothing.

He was throbbing in pain. His arms and legs didn't have much strength in them. He couldn't feel his face. Just completely drained of energy.

 _"Luigi…"_

He couldn't think. He couldn't hear. He didn't have the willpower to do anything.

 _"Luigi…"_

But why did he somehow feel… alive?

 _"Luigi!"_

He breathed out a small groan. He fought the everlasting headache, trying to move his head. To the left, and to the right. Lifting it up only made his neck ache, but he prevailed. He shifted his hands to push off the ground. Getting up into a sitting position, he rubbed his eyelids. He took off his cap to scratch the back of his hair. Once he put the headgear back on, he scoped his surroundings.

 _"Oh, crap…"_

It was dark, for sure. But the place was oh so familiar.

"You've got to be kidding me," he said aloud to himself.

No doubt about it, Luigi returned to the Oblivion, but likely in a dream as his physical self was either asleep or unconscious. He didn't have the Poltergust attached to his back, nor could he find anyone within range. He didn't budge for a minute. There was still soreness running deep in his blood and bones.

 _"Luigi!"_

His head shot up immediately from the voice. He was positive that came from his brother.

"M-Mario?"

 _"Luigi!"_

He heard it again, but it was very faint to hear. He struggled to stand. His legs shook as he stretched his lower limbs. He remained quiet, hoping he could receive another call.

"Mario? Where are you?"

There was no response.

"Mario?! Please, say something!"

He was desperate to hear anything, whether it's from his older bro or anyone else he knew. But it was absolutely quiet.

Just when Luigi was about to give up, he heard something again. However, there was more than one person talking. Luigi looked around as the comments came from different directions.

 _"Luigi! Wake up!"_ he heard a girl plead.

 _"Open your eyes, please,"_ another female begged.

 _"Buddy? You alright?"_ a high-pitched voice asked.

 _"Please be okay, Luigi,"_ prayed another. This one also sounded sharp, but somewhat raspy.

 _"You gotta wake up, dude. We need you back,"_ a deeper voice responded.

 _"Don't leave us now, fratello. I almost lost you before, and I don't want it to happen this time."_

He perceived them coming from Daisy, Peach, Yoshi, Tails, and Sonic in that order. Mario finished with the last statement for obvious reasons. It didn't matter to him though. He wanted to find them as soon as possible. He may be in his dreamy form, but he was scared of being alone.

Now the question is, are they even here? If so, where were they? Just where, in this massive expanse of a dark, purple atmosphere?

He plodded forward, taking small steps as he walked along the hard surface. Purple lines enlightened the path. But they didn't really matter, nor do they help him since the Oblivion was almost entirely pitch-black. To make sure he wasn't delusional, he stayed silent in the hopes he could hear Mario and his friends. But it was as calm, yet tense, as a dense forest with a slight breeze blowing through the leaves. Because who knows what might pop out of surprise that could potentially spook him? It's happened before when it involved either Myster Edge, Colombo, or the two individuals that haunts his mind to this day.

Luigi started getting chills down his spine.

 _"I still wish I wasn't afraid of everything."_

With no luck, he was about to lose hope a second time.

Then, from far away, he saw something. More like a lot of things. Or rather, a lot of _people_. It was an array of colors, featuring red, blue, yellow, pink, green, and more. It didn't take him three seconds to realize that they were his pals.

He jogged his way over until he got closer to the group. His heart pounded rhythmically, eager to speak to them for some comfort. He finally reached them and stopped from five feet away. Everyone was present. And by everyone, it was the people who hung out with him for his birthday, from his home and Mobius. Even Shadow was with them. **_(1)_**

After catching his breath, he shouted, "Guys! Thank goodness you're here."

When he didn't hear a word from them, he then realized that they were all facing away from him, with their backs in view.

"Mario? Daisy? Anyone? Hello?"

Someone finally reacted to his response by turning around. Luigi sighed in relief, only to earn a disdainful quote.

"What the hell are you doing here?" That came from his older sibling.

Luigi raised one eyebrow and lowered the other in puzzlement. "Mario?" He examined his face, one that had contempt written all over. It made him concerned. "What's the problem?"

"I'm looking at it right now."

He blinked and leaned back. "W-What?"

"I said, I'm looking at it right now."

"Huh?"

"ARE YOU EVEN LISTENING?! _YOU'RE_ THE PROBLEM!"

He couldn't believe his ears. It didn't make sense. Why was Mario ridiculing him?

The situation became grimmer when the others rotated around, one by one, to confront Luigi. He spectated all their faces. Some looked annoyed, including Shadow and Sonic. Some seemed downcast, such as Peach, Yoshi, Tails, and Cream. Others were indifferent, those comprised of Amy, Silver, Vector, and Daisy. The rest had a combination of a few or all those feelings. Each and every individual stared at the lonely plumber, who was bewildered by their expressions.

And what made him more upset were the interjections that were thrown at him.

"Why do we hang out with you?" Sonic crossed his arms.

"I wish you were better than you typically are," criticized Tails.

"You're just a pathetic excuse for a human," scorned Shadow.

"W-What? Y-You don't m-mean that, do you?" Luigi stuttered.

"We'll just leave you be. You no longer have any significance towards us," Silver responded.

"You're neither a powerhouse nor a brave person. More like a disgrace and an embarrassment," condemned Knuckles.

"I don't want to be too mean, but I want no part in your life, and vice versa," Vector grunted.

"Not to join the bandwagon, but that applies to me, too," said Espio nonchalantly.

"Me, three. Sorry, Louis," Charmy huffed, the same way as any other child would complain.

Luigi didn't feel mad when the young bee mistook his name. Because he's dealt with that shit for so many years, he just stuck to the idea that he wasn't going to be as renowned as Mario, or respected as a normal being. It's quite sad, really. But his heart hurt tenfold when it's coming from the people he personally knew.

"D-Daisy?" he tried to gain assurance from her.

She could only shut her eyes and tilt her head downward. "I'm sorry, Weege. But I'm not interested in you anymore."

He was about to shed tears, until Shadow opened his mouth. "Pfft, I take my previous comment back. You're not pathetic. You're a fucking joke."

That particular line made him furious. But other negative emotions clouded his ire. And he still listened to their backlash and negativity.

"Maybe someday you'll be relevant and admired," Yoshi whispered.

"And we'll be able to like you, too," Cream innocently spoke. Cheese gave a somewhat gloomy look.

"On the other hand, maybe we won't," Blaze countered.

"Luigi, I wish you were as brave as Mario. Look at what he's done to the kingdom. While you… Well…" Peach decided to end it there rather than finish her full thoughts. At the same time, Mario maintained his unsettling glare towards the green man.

"I… I can't believe you're saying this to me."

"Well believe it, Greenie. You're definitely not deserving enough to be with us," Rouge put her hands on her hips.

"Sorry, Luigi. But we have to cut ties with you," Amy apologized, a small amount of sympathy trailed from her voice.

"Mate, I wish I could go easy on you, but you're stepping in our territory, which doesn't involve you," Donkey Kong punched his giant fists together.

"Exactly! So get out or we'll be forced to make you leave!" Diddy Kong screeched.

A minuscule glimmer of faith was floating in his heart as he looked at Mario once more. He was desperate to talk in good terms. "Mario… Why are you and everyone else treating me like this? I thought we were all friends!"

Shaking his head, Mario scoffed, "You still don't understand, nor have you been listening? You're such an idiot…"

"And to that, I agree," Luigi jumped when he heard a deep voice from behind. He deliberately turned around, and his eyes popped out as large as they could be. "What's up, Green 'Stache? You miss me?"

"B-B-Bowser?!"

"That's right! And I'm here, too!" Jr. yelled at him, standing next to the Koopa King. "I bet you were in hysterics after you fought me back at the castle. Well, guess who's laughing now?"

Eggman was also with the Koopas while Orbot and Cubot floated to his left. "What's the matter, you amateur ghost buster? You gonna cry a river until you drown yourself?!"

Luigi wiped his eyes with his sleeve, but more tears started to form and fall down. "N-No… Not at a-all…"

"Sheesh, do you lack the confidence to speak or something?" told Orbot.

"I would say you have the brain of a toddler! You're insecure, and you can't control your emotions!" Cubot exclaimed.

"S-Stop! D-Don't-"

"Don't, what?" Bowser interrupted. "Continue to bully you until you can't take it any longer? You're nothing but a crybaby! A pitiful, timid, and useless person! You don't belong here! You don't deserve anything! Not even your brother!"

"NO! I love my big bro with all my heart! And I'm positive he feels the same way!"

"Then why does he look like he loathes you?" the egg-shaped scientist interrogated.

He turned back to Mario, still retaining the same look for the past several minutes. All the others staring at him gave him butterflies. He felt like he was going to throw up.

"Mario… Fratello, please help me," he implored.

"How could I disagree? You don't deserve me. You don't deserve to be my brother in the first place."

"Don't say that, Mario!"

"I already did." He started to walk away from Luigi, passing the other characters.

"Mario, wait!" He tried to push through the crowd, but they blocked his path as the older bro lengthened his distance from him. "MARIO!"

"Luigi, he's not going to answer," Tails bluntly put out.

"Mario, don't leave me!"

"Why bother at this point? Just stop it already," Sonic insisted.

"NO! He's my brother!"

"You're such a terrible listener. He doesn't like you. Clean your ears out or get a hearing aid," Bowser grunted.

"How about you shut the _fuck_ up?!"

"Oooh, someone sounds a bit naughty," Jr. teased. "You shouldn't be using words like that."

"No words are off-limits. So you can shut your damn muzzle, too."

"I rather have your bushy mouth be quiet for once," Eggman growled.

He scowled at the enemies, then turned back to his friends. Or rather, _ex_ -friends. He barely saw Mario from where he was, and his figure got smaller and smaller by the second. In this helpless situation, he didn't know what to do.

"Mario, please!"

For once, he stopped and actually looked back at the man he disregarded earlier.

"Mario, I'm begging you. Please don't leave me alone." His blue eyes swelled with the waterworks.

His face remained apathetic. He didn't have a care in the world to think about him. "Luigi, it's over. This is goodbye." Instead of walking away like before, he materialized. His body became invisible until it turned into dust. Particles of red, blue, white, and brown flew into the air of the Oblivion.

Luigi hit his breaking point after that. "NOOOO! MARIOOOOO!"

Soon, he noticed the others started to disappear as well. He spun around, dazed and confused.

"Wait! Please don't leave me here!"

Yet one by one, they transformed into dust and vanished in front of his eyes. Peach was gone. Daisy was no longer present. Sonic and Tails were not there anymore. Bowser, Eggman, Amy, Knuckles, Yoshi, and every single individual who ignored him was out of sight. In a matter of seconds, the plumber was back into a state of loneliness, except he was more saddened and petrified than he was when he woke up.

"W-Why?" he cried to himself. "Why me? Why is this happening to me?!"

He let his knees drop to the hard ground. He bent his body forward, face down, and hands clenched. He pounded it twice with his right fist. Eyes were shut, teeth gritted, tears fell, his mustache drooped. It was another emotional breakdown for the poor, young man.

Only focusing on how depressed he was, he didn't bother to care about his surroundings since it contained nothing but darkness and misery. However, there was another voice that called to him.

"Luigi."

He ignored it at first.

"Luigi…"

Nothing around him mattered. What was the point?

"Luigi…"

Irritation.

 _"Luigi…"_

Isolation.

 _"Luigi!"_

Humiliation.

 _"LUIGI!"_

"WHAT?!" he finally responded with rage leaking out of his mouth. Breathing heavily, he tried to placate himself.

He suddenly stopped though.

He saw two shoes standing in front of him. He cautiously raised his head, only to let his jaw drop in utter shock.

"N-NO! GET AWAY FROM ME!" Luigi got off the ground as quickly as he could and ran away.

The dark figure sneered. "I'm afraid I can't do that. You're mine now, Luigi."

He swiftly floated and punched the younger Mario brother in the back. When he collapsed, he released some magic to reveal the Dark Shards. He fired them at the man in green. Luigi saw this coming and rolled to his right, then to his left, and scuttled backwards when one nearly hit his legs. He tried to get up, but the adversary used more of his abilities to lift him against his will. With a snap of his fingers, rope appeared to tie the man to a large Shard that came out of the ground. Luigi struggled mightily, but he was restrained and couldn't escape. He gazed at the person with fright. Tears started to descend again.

"P-Please! Don't hurt me!"

"You fool… There's no reason to beg if there's no one to help you and nothing to stop me. Prepare for your games to truly end."

The entity rushed towards him at a high velocity. When Luigi squeezed his eyes and screamed in terror, the next thing he heard was something very familiar to him.

It was a slight whimper, followed by an echo. "Bark! Bark!"

* * *

 _Location: Mystic Ruins_

"NO!"

Luigi wheezed as he rose up from his nightmare. His vision was hazy, so he blinked multiple times. The blurriness came from the teardrops that shielded his eyes. He wiped them away with his hand.

However, he noticed that he wasn't wearing any gloves. Or his overalls. Not even a shirt. He looked down at himself, taking in his appearance. He was only wearing a pair of green shorts with bandages wrapped around his upper chest. There was more covering the wound on his left arm where he was initially cut by Scythe.

He also found out that his dirty set of clothes, his 3DS, and the Dark Moon piece were sitting on top of a small cabinet beside him. The Poltergust was on the floor in front of it. He still had his hat on, but he took it off for a minute. He was almost in an identical situation like the first time Edge battered him. Except he didn't wake up in a hospital, and there weren't medical machines or IV stands hooked up to him. Instead, he was in a bedroom.

The bed was near a window to his left. He saw a train station and the grassy terrain of the Mystic Ruins as far as his eyes could see. The moon and stars shined brightly over the hills. Nonetheless, it was completely overshadowed by the looming darkness of the Oblivion. And it seemed to be larger than the ones above Station Square, Chemical Plant, and Emerald Hill.

 _"I'm at Sonic and Tails' house? I must have been out for hours if it's already dark,"_ he thought.

Putting the cap back on his head, he leaned back on the headboard of the bed. He was about to rest until he peered straight ahead to view the digital clock on the dresser from across the room. He instantly shook his head to see if he was dreaming again.

He wasn't this time.

The device read 1:50 a.m. But right next to those numbers was the label 'MON'.

That meant it wasn't the middle of the night on Saturday.

It wasn't on Sunday either.

No, it was a late night on _Monday_.

"What the? I was out for over two days?! And I wake up at this time, too?"

Luigi got interrupted by a whine, similar to the one that concluded his bad dream. He whipped his head to the right and found his Polterpup sitting on the floor. He had the biggest set of puppy eyes as he looked very anxious.

"Colombo!"

His ghost tail wagged without enthusiasm.

"What are you doing down there, boy? Come up here," he patted his lap.

The dog obeyed his command and sat in front of the injured Italian. He was calm and collected when his head was rubbed. Colombo, however, couldn't care less about that. He whined as a way of asking if he was alright.

"Colombo, I'm okay. _Lo prometto._ " **_(2)_**

The ghost thought otherwise.

"I'm still alive and breathing, right? It was just an accident."

Or was it? Now that he thought about it, what happened beforehand? How did he get transported from the Chemical Plant Zone to Sonic and Tails' home? And has it really been two days since he was last standing?

"Wait, where's Mario? And everybody else?"

Colombo couldn't answer his concerns, but someone entered his room. There, walking in at nearly two in the morning, was Daisy. She was holding a plastic cup of cold water in her hand. She nearly spilled it when she saw Luigi sitting upright.

"L-Luigi…"

"Daisy…"

Colombo slipped out of the room, passing through the door to give them privacy. The flower princess slowly walked up to his bed and pulled a chair next to him. She placed the water on the bedside cabinet. She observed his face. Red eyes, damp mustache, and a deep frown. It wasn't a shocker to her that he cried, but Daisy was extremely worried to point out those features. She wanted to provide support for her significant one.

"You're awake. Thank goodness," she whispered softly.

"Daisy, what happened? The last thing I remember was me passing out after we fought Shrewd. Was I really out for so long?"

She sulked when he asked that. "Yeah. We took you here as fast as we could. Everyone was waiting for you to fully recover. But you were unconscious for minutes, which turned into hours, then a few days. I was terribly worried. At least you're fine now."

"I'm sorry I made you feel that way."

"It isn't your fault, Luigi. What matters is to see you breathing."

"Why am I not in a hospital?"

"The one in Station Square was still being reconstructed, and there wasn't another one nearby, so we went here instead and tried our best to heal your injuries. **_(3)_** Sonic cleaned up this room just for you."

"How and when did I get these shorts then?"

"Toad was kind enough to visit and brought us new clothes. But since you were in a severe condition, we cautiously changed you into little clothing so we wouldn't ruin or stretch the bandages. Nonetheless, he brought new gear for you. It's over there on the dresser."

He nodded at her.

"As a side note, we told Toadsworth and E. Gadd about the incident. They're waiting patiently for us to return.

"Where's everyone else?"

"When we were about to carry you back, Eggman decided last second to restore Metal Sonic from the fight. So, we left without him, Orbot, and Cubot."

"Are all three still there?"

"I don't know. But Tails assumed they might have nowhere to go since Edge infiltrated Eggman's base last week. I'm not sure if they did go back to his lair, or if they remained at Chemical Plant since the robots were defeated."

Luigi understood and bobbed his head again.

"We all remained here Friday night, waiting for you to wake up. Eventually, some went home to sleep, but they returned the last two days to check up on you. Over the weekend, Tails was trying to build new communicators for Sonic and him since their old ones got taken away. He's slumbering in Sonic's room with him."

"Then what about the others?"

"Currently, Amy's at her home with Blaze, Cream and Cheese are back at Vanilla's, Rouge is probably out looking for more jewelry or doing who knows what, and Knuckles is staying at Angel Island to guard the Master Emerald. He's probably going to remain there in case anything disastrous happens. They promised to return to see if you would be awake, but Knuckles and Rouge were doubtful."

"And Mario…"

"He was absolutely nervous for you, but he tried to stay calm. Tails offered his room to him and Peach. Yoshi chose to sleep on the couch. Colombo and I were also going to rest in the living room, but we couldn't get any shuteye. He wanted to see how you were doing. So did I. And now, here you are in front of us. Well, actually, just me."

"I see… I guess I made him apprehensive because of my mistakes."

"Luigi, I told you weren't the reason behind all of this. You know that, right?"

The man looked away from her and towards the window, seeing the stars sparkle in the sky. His eyes started to water.

"Luigi?" He mumbled something, but she couldn't perceive the message. "What was that?"

"I'm… I'm so-" he hesitated. "I'm sorry."

"For what?"

He pulled his knees toward him. "That I'm… worthless…"

Daisy was taken aback. "Luigi!" She made sure she didn't yell to wake up the entire house.

"You h-hate me, don't you?" He proceeded to dig his head in shame.

"Luigi, why would you think of that?!" She sounded offended, yet saddened at his words.

"I had another nightmare."

She blinked. "What was it about?"

He gulped, swallowing the large lump in his throat. He debated whether he should share it or not. However, he still hadn't told Mario about his previous ones. Reluctantly, he locked eyes with Daisy and spoke up.

"I was back in the Oblivion. I heard voices, from you and M-Mario, as well as Peach, Yoshi, Tails, and Sonic. You were all calling for me."

"We were…"

"Well, in my dream, I heard you guys. I-I wanted to find you. And you were all there; the people we ventured with earlier, as well as the others who are still kidnapped. Shadow, Silver, Vector, Espio, and Charmy. I was happy at first. But then…"

Daisy rested her hand on top of Luigi's, interlocking her gloved fingers with his bare ones. "Go on…"

Another gulp came from him. "M-Mario asked me what the hell I was doing. And he ridiculed me."

"What? Why would he say that?"

"I-I don't know. But not only that, everyone else was negative towards me. They all looked like they hated me or didn't care about me. And B-Bowser and Eggman appeared, only to make me feel terrible. I called Mario for help b-because he started to… leave me. Before I knew it, he vanished. And so did everyone else. I-I was all alone! I was scared! I didn't want to be left out! I needed somebody. Somebody to help me…"

The princess was aghast to hear such a horrible story. This was by far the most emotional one he has experienced.

Luigi looked forward, aimlessly staring at nothing. "It got w-worse when… _he_ sh-showed up. He tried to attack me, and I-I was about to be possessed, until Colombo woke me up." As he stammered, more tears appeared on his face. "But at one point, before everyone disappeared, I tr-tried to ask you for help, but you said…" He stifled a sob. "Y-You said, that you w-weren't… in-interested… in m-me…"

Daisy furrowed her eyebrows, got up from her seat, and sat on the bed. She wrapped her arms around him. He reciprocated the action. "Luigi, never in a million years would I ever say that to you." She didn't receive a response from him, and she asked another question. "Is that why you thought I hated you?"

"Y-Yes… I d-d-did," Luigi sniffled. "But I was more upset that everyone ignored me… Rejected me… I didn't want to be abandoned by you guys."

"Well, that Daisy from your horrible dream was a fake, as well as those clowns who were hurting you. We all care about you so much, including me. And don't you think otherwise."

He remained doubtful. "Do you… r-really mean… th-that?"

Daisy pulled away to see his face up close. What she did next was close her eyes, leaned forward, and pressed her gentle lips onto Luigi's. He was surprised, but then he slowly closed his own as he took in the passionate kiss.

When she released, she viewed him with sincere, blue eyes. "I truly mean it. Without a doubt."

Luigi lovingly stared at his partner. He felt grateful to hear nice words, unlike the harsh ones from his dream.

* * *

 *****PLEASE SKIP TO THE END IF YOU DO NOT WANT TO READ THIS. _(4)_**

* * *

By then, he tilted his head to the left and shut his eyes. Daisy noticed this and decided to copy him, puckering her lips. Leaning towards each other, they deeply osculated. Daisy raised her right hand to hold his face. She stroked his cheek with the softest touch. Her left played with the back of his auburn hair, curling one of the bottom tufts. Luigi had his arms around Daisy. His hands held her shoulders, but not too forcefully, as they developed in a romantic moment. A small moan escaped the woman's mouth as their tongues wrestled with lust. The shirtless plumber let out a pleasurable grunt at the same time.

"Mmm… Luigi…"

"Daisy…"

She gently pushed him down on the bed. With her on top, she was careful not to put too much pressure on his chest. She also didn't want to aggravate his left arm. Still enjoying the kiss, her right hand moved down to his collarbone, just above the bandages.

It was very late and quiet, but the princess chose to take things slightly further. Although it would be indecent to her royal title, she only focused on this special occasion. And more importantly, her lover.

She moved away for a bit, eliciting a groan from him. "Luigi, I want you to be happy."

He was confused. "What are you insinuating?"

"I'm sure you'll figure it out," she nibbled tenderly on his neck.

Luigi extended that body part, soaking in the warm feeling. After a couple of seconds, she sat up, reached behind her back, and pulled the zipper of her dress down.

It was by then he realized what she was doing. "D-Daisy?"

She stared at him with an affectionate smile and let the outfit fall off her shoulders, dropping it onto the wooden floor. "Luigi, let me love you."

The green-hatted plumber drew out a small breath and pulled Daisy close to him. With another ardent kiss, they caressed each other during their loving embrace. He pulled the covers over their bodies. The night went by as they spent their time together, just the two of them. And for Luigi, he definitely needed the comfort.

He took the opportunity to catch some air. He gently ran his hand over her blushing cheek. "Thank you, Daisy."

"You're welcome, Luigi," she genuinely replied and continued the affection.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _To those who actually read the ending, I hope you enjoyed it. But as for a scene like this, it'll likely be the first and last of this story._

 _After that emotional chapter, can Luigi fight his inner demons and realize that what he dreamt of was mostly nothing but a lie? Will he ever tell Mario about his past nightmares? And where will the adventure lead to next?_

 _I'll see you guys next time for Ch. 42 of Hidden Bravery! Be sure to follow/favorite, and please leave a review to let me know how I did! Once again, thanks for all the support! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Don't worry, guys. I haven't forgotten about Silver, Shadow, and the Chaotix. They've gotten through 25 chapters without dialogue, so I gave them some right here. It's limited for them, but at least they get to make another appearance until they're rescued._

 ** _(2):_** _'Lo prometto' is Italian for 'I promise'._

 ** _(3):_** _I re-edited Ch. 38 regarding the status of Station Square. Therefore, I gave the impression that the city's hospital wasn't fully remodeled. This is a trivial excuse just for Luigi to recuperate at Sonic and Tails' place._

 ** _(4):_** _This will probably be a rare occurrence where I will write something that evocative. But for future reference, I will NOT compose anything too 'explicit' in my works. If, at all, I receive any requests, I will instantly ignore them. So please don't bother to ask me. (Stuff like this will be kept under certain limits to where they aren't too graphic or descriptive.)_


	43. Ch 42: Coming Clean

_A/N:_ _Filler content is not the most entertaining. Sorry about this, but I'll make sure to get right into the thick of things once our heroes have settled down._

 _I also took some time to re-edit some of the previous chapters because of poor grammar, or I wanted to add extra dialogue. A prime example is in Ch. 17 where Mario consoled Luigi. (You can go back and reread it, only if you want to.)_

 _And third,_ _New Brotherhood_ _is on hiatus until I'm done with finals, which ends after the following week. I sincerely apologize for the delay and for not posting an update earlier. Wish me luck on that, because I'm so stressed out._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I do not own the rights to the franchises or characters of Mario and Sonic. I only take credit for the plot and my OCs._

* * *

 **Chapter 42:** Coming Clean

In the Inseparable Duo's household, one of the clocks chimed eight times, indicating it was 8 a.m. in Mobius. The sun already peeked out of the sky, shining its rays down on the ruins. But the Oblivion remained foreboding from its fixed spot.

Mario walked out of the steamy bathroom with a towel covering the waist down. He went to Tails' room where he and Peach spent the night. He grabbed his new clothes off the chair. After dressing up, he exited out of the room to find the kitsune climbing up the stairs.

"Good morning, Mario," he greeted.

"Morning, Tails."

"I woke up early today to finish constructing our new communicators, and I made you one!" He handed him a red device, imprinted with his signature 'M' symbol. "I also connected it to Luigi's 3DS so you have his contact, likewise with the others I built."

He attached the watch to his left wrist. "Thanks, Tails. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. I'll be leaving for Angel Island to deliver a new one for Knuckles. Any word on Luigi yet?"

"I was going to go check on him, actually."

With the fox following him, Mario gently knocked on the guest bedroom's door. After no response, he slowly opened it, wondering if Luigi was either immobile or conscious. However, he walked into an awkward situation. He raised a hand behind him to stop Tails from entering.

Mario saw Daisy, lying beside Luigi under the blankets. On the floor, right next to the bed, was the princess' orange dress and his brother's green shorts. Mario closed the door, cringing from the small creaking noises. His face was flushed.

"What's wrong?"

Mario knew that Tails was a young child. He may comprehend and speak swear words on rare occasion, but he's still innocent to witness anything like this. He kept the secret to himself. "Nothing. He's just asleep. Don't want to bother him."

Tails raised an eyebrow. "Okay… If you say so."

"Come on. Let's head downstairs."

Tails and Mario descended to the first floor where they saw Peach, Yoshi, and Sonic enjoying some breakfast. Colombo was drinking a bowl of water nearby.

"What's up, you two?" Sonic casually waved his hand.

"I just completed the final touches for our new communicators. So here's yours." Tails handed his buddy a brand new, blue one.

"Awesome job, Tails!"

"Please, take a seat, both of you," Peach kindly offered.

Mario and Tails took their seats and ate quietly at the dining table. After a solid minute of silence, Yoshi started another conversation.

"So, any sign of Luigi being healthy?"

Mario chewed his pancakes before answering. "Not yet."

Peach perceived his embarrassed expression. "Mario, why is your face red?"

"Is it?" he slapped a hand on his cheek.

"Yeah. Is something wrong?"

"I got out of the shower recently. I must be warm from that, I guess."

"You sure about that?" Sonic didn't buy his excuse.

"Um, no. But all I can say is that Luigi is not awake, from what I'm aware of."

The hedgehog shrugged and chugged his glass of milk. He turned to the fox sitting next to him. "Hey, Tails. Have you found a way that we can make him heal faster, like you did with the Chaos Emeralds?"

"No, I haven't. I could've spent my free time making a fake Emerald so the dimensions and properties would be similar to the real deal. But since I don't have a single one to work with, it's basically impossible for me to create a copy."

"What about the Dark Moon piece?" Yoshi suggested.

"I don't think we can utilize it if it has those corrupted sparks all over it."

"Should we head over to the professor's lab to clean it off then?" Sonic asked. "He's been waiting for days already."

"I thought we would have to wait for another image to pop up," reminded Peach.

"I don't think it's necessary at this time," considered Mario. "I mean, it's pretty obvious that we have to travel to Treacherous Mansion, all the way in Evershade Valley. So we can just ignore that. It would probably be a waste of time to go from here to Boo Woods, then all the way back to heal Luigi, only to return to the kingdom a second time. Nothing's wrong with a lot of footwork, but it would be too tiring. And we need to keep our energy up in the case Edge makes another ambush or does anything unexpected."

"I guess the best bet is to simply wait until he recovers," Tails concluded.

After finishing breakfast, the guys did whatever they wanted as they waited for Luigi to feel better. Tails told Sonic that he was heading to Angel Island to give Knuckles his new communicator. Once he was aware, the fox took out the Tornado and flew to his destination. Yoshi and Peach decided to take a walk around the Mystic Ruins to find Daisy. (Little did they know she never left the house.) Mario, Sonic, and Colombo were the remaining ones, and they relaxed in the living room. Sonic was chilling on the couch, legs crossed, hands behind his head, and eyes closed. Mario was in a recliner, watching the news on the widescreen television. Colombo was sleeping on his lap.

"So why exactly did you look embarrassed at the table?"

Mario rotated his head, a bit uneasy when he was asked the question. He saw Sonic didn't move an inch from his resting position, nor did he open his eyelids.

"I mean, if you're okay with me answering, I'll tell you the truth. But it's not very decent."

"Not decent?"

"It's a little awkward to explain. Actually, _very_ awkward."

Sonic opened one of his green eyes to glance at his friend. "Go on."

Mario twiddled his fingers as he shifted his view at the screen. "So… Tails and I wanted to check on my bro to see if he was finally awoken or not."

"Was he?"

"Probably."

"What do you mean, probably?"

The plumber became red again. He turned away from the TV and stared out the window to hide his face. "At one point, he might have been awake. You see… Daisy hasn't been up."

"So? What's she gotta do with this? I mean, I'm pretty sure she was staying up late. That's probably why she's still tired. I mean it's only," he paused to look at his wrist, "8:30."

"True. But do you remember where she said she was supposed to sleep?"

"Yeah, the living r-" That's when Sonic realized his point. He sat up, his pupils now wide open. "Did she go outside or something?"

Mario faced him and shook his head. "She's still inside with Weege."

"Wait, did she…"

"What do you think I walked into when I knocked on the guest room?"

When he put two and two together, a blush formed on Sonic's cheeks. "Oh, shit…"

Mario peered at Colombo, still resting on top of him. "Yeah, I don't need to explain anymore. Sorry about that. And just in case, when they're gone, you might want to change those sheets."

"I was gonna wash them anyway. But after you said _that_ , ugh…" The hedgehog groaned and hit his head back on the sofa's arm. His right arm drooped over the side.

"To reiterate, I apologize for talking about this."

"And I regret my decision for asking."

* * *

Daisy stirred her head, educing a groan. Groggily opening her eyes, she woke up next to her special one. His mouth formed a small 'o' as he was lightly snoring. Daisy couldn't help but giggle.

"Mmm…" he struggled to stretch his arms. He gazed over at Daisy and smiled. "Morning."

"Morning, Luigi," she whispered. "Sorry I woke you up."

"It's alright. You didn't do anything wrong."

"Are you feeling better?"

"Much, all because of you." He clasped his hand with her, holding it tightly.

"I wish we could stay like this."

"Me, too. But sadly, we have to return to our world. I have to give E. Gadd the Dark Moon piece. Then we have to reach Treacherous Mansion so we can find the Tough Possessor. Plus, it would be awkward if Mario or anyone walks in us like… this."

"I know. Either way, I was more than happy about last night."

"Me too, Daisy."

"You're still okay? I didn't hurt you or anything?"

"I'm perfectly fine. And thanks."

The princess leaned forward to plant another kiss. Before she could though, they both heard something. It came from behind Luigi.

"Is that Colombo hiding under the bed?"

"I don't think so. I didn't hear him- What the?" He turned his body and saw the Dark Moon piece shining on the cabinet. Luigi reached over to grab it. Daisy huddled near him to see what was happening.

"Is it another vision?"

"It should be."

The two kept their eyes on the fragment. And by no surprise, the visual showed them a front view of the humongous mansion of Evershade, except it was covered by the purple fog.

"Well that's inconvenient. I can't see a thing!"

"Hold on. What the heck is that?" Luigi squinted.

"What are you talking about?"

"Right there."

He pointed at something through the thick wall of clouds. He hardly saw a white figure. Thankfully, the scene zoomed in to give them a clearer perspective. That's when they barely caught the back of a white figure passing by the stained-glass window. Unfortunately, it was gone at the wrong time.

"What was that?"

"I don't know. It looked too small to be a Boo. And it was walking on the floor."

The scene panned to a different area of the mansion. It first showed the Jungle Exhibit, one of the rooms in the east side. And Luigi found something very similar to when he first visited there. Above a small stream of running water was a stubborn Flytrap. And behind the killer plant was a painting.

"Hey, it's Vector! He's trapped inside!"

"But where's Espio and Charmy? And Silver? And Shadow?"

Luigi's questions were immediately answered when the fragment switched to the Ice Age Exhibit. Within the frozen ice cave, Silver was stuck. Next, Shadow was seen in the Ancient Exhibit. The picture frame was above the E-Gate. A painting of Espio was beside a rocket in the Space Exhibit, located on the second level in the west wing. And finally, Charmy was confined in the Train Exhibit, beyond the model display where he once entered when he tried to save Mario.

Just as the visual was about to diminish, Luigi got one last surprise. And to his discontent…

"WAAAHHH!"

…it was the Tough Possessor spooking him from out of nowhere. The jump scare made him throw the object across the room, and it hit the wall. He backed up against the headboard and covered his face with his hands.

"Luigi?"

"I'm such a coward," she heard his muffled voice.

"You weren't expecting that. Neither did I."

"But I overreacted. That's what I do because I'm nothing but a big baby."

Daisy was getting upset at his words. "Luigi, don't criticize yourself. Everyone gets scared sometimes. Even myself, although I hate to admit it."

"You may be afraid of _some_ things, but I'm scared of _everything_. Ghosts, monsters, the dark… It's humiliating… How could you like me if I'm not strong or brave?"

She pulled his hands away so she could see him. When Luigi tried to look away, she gently pushed his chin so that he could face her. She was remorseful to see him like this again.

"Luigi, you _are_ strong and brave. I don't care about your fears or weaknesses. Those things don't overpower your other traits. You're kind, sweet, unselfish, and handsome in my eyes. That's why I like you."

This time, she actually kissed him on the lips. The feeling was blissful to soothe him. It was also perfect as they enjoyed their moment without interruption. Well, that is until…

 ** _*SLAM_** ** _*_**

The two backed away and jumped from the sound of the door hitting the wall. And in the entryway were Mario, Sonic, and Colombo. Daisy pulled up the blankets to cover herself, even though she still had underclothing on. Luigi was immediately blushing in embarrassment. Mario didn't say anything, Sonic was also speechless, and Colombo hopped on the bed to join his owner.

"Um… Hey, guys," she wavered.

"This is awkward…" Mario had the courage to say something.

 _"That's exactly what I said,"_ Luigi thought.

"We heard a loud scream and a smashing sound when we were downstairs. You guys alright?" Sonic asked.

Luigi lowered the bill of his hat to shield his eyes. "Sorry… That was me. I… I threw the Dark Moon piece across the room."

"Why?"

"Because I saw another visual from it."

"Was it the Treacherous Mansion?" Mario wondered.

"Hold on, guys," Daisy interposed. "Can we finish this discussion after we… you know…" She pointed down at the clothes on the floor.

"Oh, yeah. That would be more appropriate."

"And when you're done, I'm stripping the sheets and putting new ones on that bed."

The two had red cheeks as they left the room. Once they showered and redressed, Daisy in her same dress and Luigi in his new shirt and overalls, they went downstairs to sit in the living room. After the hedgehog cleaned up the guest room, he jumped over the couch and landed in his casual, relaxed position.

"Sonic, I'm sorry about what happened earlier," the green man murmured.

"Just forget about it, dude. I rather not think about it or bring it up for discussion. And as long as Tails doesn't know, I'm fine."

"That's why I kept that secret to myself when I walked in the first time."

"Wait, you saw us sleeping together?" Daisy glared at Mario.

"Only because I wanted to know if Luigi was okay!"

"Guys! I told you to stop talking about that!"

They apologized to Sonic, who only shrugged it off as he got comfy.

Mario let out a deep breath to compose himself. "Okay then. Luigi, what did you see?"

"Like you asked earlier, the Dark Moon piece did show us the Treacherous Mansion. There seemed to be someone inside, but it was unfamiliar to me and Daisy."

"Was it a Boo or some kind of ghost?"

"I don't think so. It was white, yet it wasn't floating in the air. It didn't look like an Evershade ghost, either."

"Hmm… That's weird. Was there anything else?"

"Yeah. We saw the rest of Sonic's friends trapped in paintings. Vector, Espio, Charmy, Silver, and Shadow. They're separated in different rooms, too."

"They've been missing for so long," Sonic recalled. "But at least we know for sure on where they are."

"And… Out of nowhere, the Tough Possessor screeched in front of my face. It scared me, and I hurled it at the wall."

"So that's why we heard that crash. I'm just glad you didn't get hurt or something," Mario sighed of relief.

"By the way, now that you're finally up, you ready to move on?"

"I think so. But where's Peach, Tails, and Yoshi?"

"Tails is at Angel Island to give Knuckles his new thingamajig."

"And Yoshi and Peach went out for a walk earlier. They should be back any minute."

Luigi nodded and leaned back in his seat. He was about to take a nap before Mario talked to him once more.

"Hey, Luigi. Can I see you in the kitchen, alone?"

"Uh, yeah. Sure."

The brothers got up and left the room. When they sat down in private, Mario gave Luigi a serious stare. He kept his voice low. "Weegie, is there something else you want to tell me?"

He already knew where this was going. He lowered his head, fixing his eyes at the table. To confirm, he asked, "Is this about my nightmares?"

Mario nodded. "Mm-hmm."

The taller sibling sighed deeply. "Alright, Mario. I promised you before, so I'll fulfill it. But just a small disclaimer, you're probably not going to like what you're about to hear."

"I don't care if these dreams were life-threatening, scary, or dumb. Please, fratellino. I'll understand."

Luigi gulped before he divulged his nightmares to Mario. Word by word, he slowly explained everything from the very beginning.

* * *

 _Location: Evershade Valley_

Where the Dark Moon should be shining down on the ghost valley was a vacant spot for the Oblivion to swirl in the sky. The possessed ghouls, however, weren't affected by it. They continued to cause mischief, but more towards each other rather than destroying the mansions at this point. Greenies pulled cheeky stunts and pranks, Slammers put up physical fights, Hiders chucked random objects, Sneakers surprised others from behind, and Gobblers satisfied themselves by swallowing tons of food and leaving trails of slippery goo all over the floors.

In the meantime, at the Treacherous Mansion, Duplicit was roaming the halls. He was absolutely bored.

"This is taking forever. When's that green guy going to be here? We don't have all day!"

He shook his head and decided to give his partner a call. The communicator dialed for a few seconds before the recipient picked up.

"What's up, Duplicit?" Duplimore started.

"Dude, have you gotten any word on the hero yet? When is he coming here?"

"I know you're impatient, but I haven't seen him or his friends return to the kingdom. I've been stalking the warp pipe, and not a single person popped out of that thing."

"Then what's the problem?"

"How the heck should I know?!"

"Alright, jeez. No need to act all worked up."

Duplimore grunted. "I don't know when they'll be here. I'll give a quick update as soon as I see them."

Duplicit followed with a heavy sigh. "Okay, then. And for the record, you owe me a hundred coins."

"What? What are you talking about?" Duplimore huffed.

"For that wager you made on the day he left for Chemical Plant Zone. After speaking to the boss, I called you and asked when the green guy is going to come to Evershade. After some back and forth discussions, you told me, quote, 'I can bet you a hundred coins that the guy will come here in three days tops.' End quote. Those are the exact words. And would you look at the date. Saturday and Sunday have come and gone. It's now Monday, the third day, and he's not here yet."

"I did not say anything like that."

"Yes, you did. I recorded our conversation."

"What are you, a professional phone-tapper? Listen here, Linda Tripp. **_(1)_** You did not have my consent to record anything. And even I _did_ say that, that wasn't a real bet!"

"So are you gonna pay up later or not?"

Duplimore rolled his eyes and scoffed. "Goodbye, Duplicit. You're a dolt sometimes."

"I technically am an adult."

"Not _adult_. _A dolt._ As in, you freaking idiot."

"Geez. Now who's starting to get impatient?"

"Oh, forget you, dude."

"Harsh." Before he could make an additional remark, Duplimore disconnected the call. Duplicit shrugged to himself before he continued lurking around. "He still owes me a hundred coins."

* * *

The large, glaring eyes of the red plumber made Luigi shiver. Unbeknownst to the latter though, Mario was angry at himself for not protecting and comforting his younger brother. They were siblings by blood, after all. And he felt that he was a failure for not being there for him when he needed it the most.

"Is that all true?"

"These are mostly nightmares, Mario. I don't know if it's real or fake. But regardless, Myster Edge is a major threat as the end of all worlds is approaching fast. And I know for a fact that he wants me under his thumb."

Mario breathed in deeply, trying to contain his anger against the Shadow Spirit. "What about the most recent one?"

Eyes still glued to the table, Luigi shuddered. "I already spoke to Daisy about this. It… It involved you, her, Peach, Sonic, and just about everybody else, good and bad people."

"And?"

Luigi didn't want to be teary-eyed, let alone in front of his older bro which has occurred numerous times in the past.

"In another dream of the Oblivion, I found you and the rest of our friends. I was okay at first, up until…" Mario raised an eyebrow, then became surprised about what he said next. "…Until I heard you scorn me."

"…How so?"

Luigi took the next several minutes to explain the drama and breakdown of his dreamy self and vision. Despite all that, he didn't release any tears. His expression, nevertheless, was crestfallen.

Mario leaned back in the wooden chair, utterly baffled from hearing that story. "Is that everything you know?"

"Yeah… I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier. I wasn't feeling myself lately, and I was in denial when I kept this away from you."

Sighing with sympathy, he gazed at him. "Fratello, I'm not going to hate you for that. However, I wish you did tell me about this, save for the last nightmare, before we got separated."

Luigi could only nod his head without moving his mouth.

"Luigi, just because that all went down, doesn't mean that you're a bad person. If there's anyone to blame here, it's Edge. For torturing, manipulating, and scaring you. He's not going to get away with this. But in order to do so, I need you. In fact, we all need you. When we get back to the Mushroom Kingdom, I'm joining you to Evershade Valley so we can save the rest of Sonic's friends, capture Tough, defeat Edge, and get rid of the Oblivion. How the last two things will work out, I'm not sure. But no matter what, I'll support you all the way."

"Okay, Mario. I appreciate it."

"You're welcome. Well, since that's now off the table, I have another question."

The younger plumber felt some sweat falling down his forehead. "Yeah?"

"Did you and Daisy…" He looked around and behind him before eyeing back to him. He ensued to make an obscene action with his hands.

Luigi sputtered, but kept his voice low. "M-Mario! No, we didn't do anything like that!"

"I'm just saying that I saw clothes on the floor."

"We did NOT go _that_ far. First of all, she entered my room last night when she heard me scream from my most recent dream. Two, she comforted me, which led to… personal matters. And three, trying to keep this discreet, we were just making out!"

"Alright, alright," he put his hands up. "Mamma Mia, you don't have to sound so hostile."

"Because you thought I was going to commit a bold move, which I _wouldn't_ do! That would be me crossing a line!"

"Over what?"

"What kind of a fucking question is that?! We're at Sonic and Tails' house, so if I _did_ decide to take things further, I would at least respect their property by not doing it here. And I do not intend to rush things in our relationship until the timing's right. It's way too early to think about that."

A moment of silence came from Mario before he opened his mouth. "Oh, _that's_ what you meant. I thought you were gonna mention about taking-"

"Mario! _Enough!_ "

"Were the old sheets clean, at least?"

"MARIO!"

He tried his best not to snicker from the hot-headed look of his brother.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the living room, Sonic heard his communicator beeping. He sat up, pressed the button, and saw Knuckles on the device.

"Sonic, you there?"

"Gee, I dunno. Am I here on this couch, talking to you on this fine, lazy Monday? Or am I taking cheerleading lessons with Egghead?"

"Okay, wise ass. Get with the program. I got my new communicator from Tails. Though he looked peeved when he gave it to me."

"You know Tails wouldn't be like that if you didn't drench your old one in grape soda."

"It was lemon lime, and I was testing something!"

"On why you don't own a brain, knucklehead?" he retorted with a chuckle.

"CAN I HAVE A CHANCE TO SPEAK?!"

"Go right ahead, princess." Daisy gave him a look. "Oh, not you, Daisy. I'm talking to this beauty," he pointed at the echidna.

He showed an irritated scowl and grunted furiously, causing the hedgehog to grin. "I already contacted Amy, Blaze, and the rest of our group. We have another problem on our hands."

The hedgehog's smile went away. "What is it this time?"

"I tried utilizing the Master Emerald's powers to indicate how much time we have before the Oblivion potentially destroys everything."

Colombo and Daisy huddled near Sonic to listen closely.

"Did you get any answers?"

"The moment Edge constructed the Oblivion, it will take no longer than five days to cover the entire sky in all dimensions. Once that threshold is reached, it's an apocalypse from there on.

"Five days? The first time we saw one was in Station Square on Friday. And since it's the third day, that means we only have until Wednesday before everything's gone!" Daisy exclaimed.

"This is not good at all. We better tell Mario and Luigi about this."

"Ruff!"

Then, the front door opened to reveal Yoshi and Peach. When they saw the three huddled near each other, the pink princess opened her mouth.

"Daisy! There you are! What's going on?"

"Knuckles just gave us an update. And it's terrible," she mentioned.

Peach was immediately concerned. "What's wrong?"

"From what he said, we only have until Wednesday to somehow stop Edge," informed Sonic.

"Wednesday?" Yoshi reiterated. "How did he find out about that?"

"The Master Emerald," Knuckles spoke up to them. "To add to this bad news, Edge has summoned more of his robots to attack both of our worlds, likely as another distraction. But this time, we're ahead of his little game. The others and I will stay in Mobius to fend them off. You guys take off for the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Sounds like a plan to us," Sonic gave a thumbs-up.

Not too long after, everyone looked up when they heard footsteps. Coming out of the kitchen were the mustachioed brothers.

"Luigi! You're awake and okay!" Peach said with relief.

"Good to see you again!" Yoshi gave his friend a lick with his tongue.

The taller plumber let out a small laugh. "Glad to see you too, Yoshi. Same with you, Princess."

"How do you feel?"

"A lot better. Not as strong as those times when I suddenly absorbed the powers of the Chaos Emeralds, but I'm fine. Just some slight pain in my arm, and my chest almost feels normal."

"Which makes me wonder again; how is it possible to receive the energy from the Emeralds? I mean, no offense, but you don't have any connections with them."

"No, I understand your point, Sonic. I don't know myself."

"What were you guys talking about anyway?" Mario queried.

"Oh, yeah. Knucklehead told us we only have five days before the Oblivion consumes every single world. Well, technically three days."

"HEY! I'M STILL ON CALL, DIMWIT!"

Sonic shifted his eyes to see his irate echidna friend. "Oh, whoops. Sorry about that, Mr. Gullible Pants."

"If I wasn't on Angel Island right now, I'd rearrange your stupid face so badly."

"Shucks to be you."

"Hey, should we head back to our world now? Everyone must be worried sick," said Yoshi.

"We will, once Tails gets back. Thanks for telling us, Knuckles."

"Sure. But watch your back the next time I come face to face with you."

"Okay. I'll handle a simple fist fight. And I'll win like I always do." Before Knuckles could interject, Sonic pressed the button to end the call. Mario rolled his eyes over Sonic's arrogance.

Luigi, on the other hand, had a fretful expression. "Three days? But why?"

"Knuckles explained that the Oblivion would take five days to destruct every world, starting at the time when Edge created it. Because we first saw it on Friday, and two days have already gone by, we have today, tomorrow, and Wednesday to stop him and get rid of the black holes. But I don't know how we can pull that off."

Luigi was sweating bullets from Daisy's response. He mentally took the blame for making his friends waste their time.

Afterwards, the two-tailed fox entered the house to see the gang in the living room. "I take it that Knuckles told you about the situation?"

"Correctamundo, little buddy," said Sonic.

Tails nodded, then noticed the man in green. "Hey, Luigi! How you feeling?"

"Pretty good," he clasped his hand for a shake. "Feels nice to be on my feet. But now we got a bigger problem."

"Well thank goodness we didn't lose you. We have to meet up with Professor E. Gadd and clean off the Dark Moon piece. I know we're on a time crunch, but do you want to leave now, or do you need more time to convalesce?"

"Like I told them, I'm not entirely healed like the times the Emeralds gave me unexpected power. Although, I am able to walk. And besides, we don't have time to linger around."

"Alright. We can head out as soon as possible."

"Let me go get my Poltergust and 3DS."

"I'll pack up your old clothes for you."

"Thanks, Tails."

As they headed upstairs, the other six waited in the living room.

"So Daisy, where were you this morning?" Peach wondered. "I didn't see you here sleeping last night, and you weren't outside when Yoshi and I went around the ruins."

Daisy cautiously glanced at her friend as her cheeks reddened. Peach happened to catch this, drawing similarities to Mario's reaction earlier. Sonic walked to the bathroom on purpose, avoiding the topic of conversation. The red hero stared at a wall to conceal another blush.

"Uh… I was outside, too. You and Yoshi must have searched somewhere else or you didn't catch up to me as I took a breather."

"Where did you walk around?" asked the dinosaur.

"You know, the train station, the plains, near the big staircase. Nowhere far away."

"Okay, just wondering, Daisy."

Said princess grimaced for lying, but it was for the best for them not to know about her intimate night with Luigi. Mario hid his face with his hand. Colombo stared at him with a tilted head.

After Sonic rejoined the party, they all turned their attention to the stairs to see Tails and Luigi with the Poltergust reattached to his body.

"Okay, everyone. Let's return to the Mushroom Kingdom."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Not the most interesting chapter out there, but I tried my best to add some humor here and there. But on serious matters, Luigi and the heroes only have three days to prevent Myster Edge from achieving world destruction and domination._

 _As for Ch. 43, we will see the professor and resume the journey, leading up to the location of Luigi's first Dark Moon Quest: Evershade Valley. It'll be more than just chills and thrills for the green plumber. It'd be spooks and… well, that's about it, but you get the picture._

 _I appreciate everyone for reading and to those who leave nice reviews. Be sure to follow/favorite, let me know how I did, and I'll see you next time! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I don't want to explain this, but I bet most of you will get the inside joke. If you don't though, do some research and you'll see for yourself._

 _Disclaimer: This reference relates to something suggestive, likewise with the ending scene of Ch. 41. Do not look it up if you don't want to know._


	44. Ch 43: Return to Evershade Valley

_A/N:_ _Yesterday marked a full year since I started writing and drafting this story. Sounds unbelievable, right? Well, that's the truth. It's also a week away until Christmas, and a week from Tuesday that will mark the one-year anniversary of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _on FFN! I'll try to get a chapter in by next Monday as a special holiday gift for you guys! Other than that, I hope you enjoy this one!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer: As always, I don't own anything but the story and my OCs._

* * *

 **Chapter 43:** Return to Evershade Valley

Tails locked up the house, and everyone made their way down to the ruins' train station. They hopped on the next available ride to reach the center city. Minutes elapsed as the speeding vehicle rode the rails at a blistering speed. Tens of people crowded inside with the passengers either sitting down or standing while holding tightly onto the metal poles to avoid losing their balance.

Mario and Luigi were next to each other while Peach and Daisy sat opposite of them, having some small talk with each other. But during that time, the flower princess kept shifting her gaze between her best friend and her special one, curiously wondering about what was running through his mind.

Sonic and Tails were in the seats behind the Mario Bros., their backs facing theirs while conversing with Yoshi. Colombo laid in the seat beside him. The three animals also had a conversation.

But Luigi ignored everything as their voices were drained out from his current thoughts. Sitting beside the glass pane, his chin resting on his palm and his elbow on top on the armrest, he pinned his eyes to the Oblivion that was floating over the Mystic Ruins. That black hole became out of view before he saw the one above Station Square. Mario, sitting next to him, noticed this, too. It not only drew comparisons to the Void, but it also reminded him of those times the Subspace bombs were triggered in the World of Trophies. **_(1)_** How multiple black holes were found in the same dimension at the same time. It sounds unbelievable, but it takes one good look to see the proof.

Moments later, the train reached the city station. They got off and found Amy, Blaze, Rouge, Cream, and Cheese waiting on the platform. Everyone looked happy to see the man in green in front of them.

"Luigi! Great to see you again!" Amy waved her hand eagerly at him and the others.

"Hi, Amy. The feeling's mutual for everyone else. But we got to get going really quick."

"Have any of Edge's underlings invaded Mobius yet?" Tails asked.

"As of now, no," Blaze answered. "Knuckles only found out that they're planning to invade, but their arrival is impending."

"Either way, we'll do our best to defend this place," Rouge winked.

"We'll help out in any way possible!" Cream offered.

"Chao!" Cheese chirped.

"Here, Amy. Keep this with you," Luigi handed her one of the Power Stars. "It's just in case you need to return to the Mushroom Kingdom alongside Knuckles."

"Don't worry, Luigi. I'll keep it safe and sound."

"And we'll make sure Rouge doesn't lose this one as well."

"Oh, stop it, Blaze. I'm not going to screw us over again."

"Come on, we shouldn't waste any more time," urged Sonic.

"Please be safe, guys," prayed Peach.

"Make sure to keep in contact if necessary," Daisy reminded.

"Arf! Arf!" Colombo barked.

After they gave their partings and split ways, the group of eight headed to the Mushroom Warp Pipe. Luigi placed the other star in the slot and typed in the code. The hatch to the pipe unlocked.

Mario jumped on top of the opening. "Alright, everyone. We're finally heading back to Toad Town. And after that, Boo Woods." He entered inside, and the rest of the heroes followed him. Luigi locked the door before warping towards home.

* * *

 _Location: Evershade Valley_

A cruiser landed in front of the large mansion. The door opened and turned into a ramp for three individuals to walk out of the vehicle. Those people were Myster Edge, Clawdio, and Slimmer.

"Sir, remind me again why you desire to return here?" asked the chrome robot.

Edge ignored him and opened the doors with the power of his scepter. The front doors slammed against the interior walls before he stepped into the lobby. Clawdio and Slimmer followed him.

"Excuse me, Myster Edge, you didn't answer my question."

Edge shut the doors with his staff. "Oh, I heard you, Slimmer. I just refused to respond until later."

"Pfft. Rude," he muttered to himself.

"Like he gives a damn about manners," Clawdio mumbled.

Edge was inspecting the room for a few seconds before he charged up his weapon. From there, he sent out several lightning orbs to the E-Gates that were found throughout the Front Entrance. They disabled the transportation devices, thus disconnecting the portals and the corresponding ones in the various exhibits found throughout the residence.

"Now to answer your query, Slim, if that plumber wants to rescue his friends here, he'll have to do it the long way. These gates no longer gain him quick access to transport unless he finds the original ones to activate. But that will take him hours, at least. And with the time he'll waste, the Oblivion will grow larger here and in every other dimension. But that's just part one."

"Part one? You mean there's a part two?"

Edge gave him a disapproving look.

Clawdio facepalmed with his orange claw from Slimmer's stupidity. "You're such an idiot," he muttered to himself.

"Part two is where I expect him to save his stupid pals, just like he did in Vanilla Dome, the Monkey Mines, the Haunted Shipwreck before I interfered with him, and the Chemical Plant Zone. But for this situation, I'll make sure to plan my next plot of revenge against him."

"Wait. I thought mentioned that you were going to manipulate that red guy, the one who is more popular than him."

"I will. That doesn't mean I'm going to let the Green 'Stache off the hook that easily."

"You've said that before the previous times though."

"WILL YOU LET ME FINISH?!"

"Seriously, Slimmer, shut up already."

The lanky minion obeyed his leader and stopped talking.

"I am going to make sure that Luigi will get another serving of revenge before I fully complete my resurrection plan. It all boils down to his temper. Now before you even try to interject me, I'll explain…

"The man isn't the kind of person you'll see on the battlefield as courageous, determined, or fearless. But I admit, much to my displeasure, he's strategic, athletic, and persevering. He's endured too many trials against me and the Possessors. Nonetheless, he's come all this way to try to restore the ghosts and the valley back to normal with the Dark Moon pieces. But deep down inside, there's bravery hidden in his soul, allowing him to continue despite the hardships I throw across at him. It sickens me, really…

"There are times when he unable to control his emotions. Sometimes he'll ignore his surroundings and let the negativity seep into his soul. When that happens, a trigger will occur. He becomes transformed and out of character compared to his typical, cheery self. But anyways, what's inside his soul is the reason why I'm targeting him in the first place. Because there's a part of him that's vital to my plan on not only taking him as my slave, but to bring back my friend…

"I did tell Alpha a while back that this was merely a test to see if he can be a true hero. But in reality, it's just a waste of his time until I have him in my hands, awaiting the moment to reconstruct that same artifact he could've used to obliterate the entire universe. Thus, I'll influence and brainwash the man in green so he can finally rejoin me after countless years of separation…

"It's the icing on the cake to my ultimate revenge. And I'll make it even worse by killing his puny friends. With his body, Luigi will be immortal, yet he'll die in the process."

"Alright. But, how does the red guy work in your plan again?"

"Oh, in due time, I'll make him do something so dastardly that the green wimp will chicken out and be forced to join my side. And that's where you two will help me accomplish my ploy."

As Edge discussed his plot to Slimmer whereas Clawdio stood there with boredom, an eye was peeking out the window from inside the Inner Courtyard. The individual eavesdropped on the Shadow Spirit.

"Oh, shoot… That green guy is going to be in trouble if this doesn't go well…" Duplicit ran away to confront his boss. Concurrently, he was about to contact Duplimore, except he received a call from him.

* * *

 _Location: Toad Town_

The heroes jumped out of the pipe in front of Peach's Castle, startling Toadsworth who almost had a heart attack after seeing the princess again for days, which was way too long to his standards. Toad and Toadette had to catch him from nearly falling.

"Welcome back, guys!" Toadette greeted.

"Yeah! Glad you're finally here again!" Toad jumped with joy.

"Princess Peach! My goodness you've returned!"

"Toadsworth, I told you I would be okay," she tried to ease him.

He noticed her bare arms and hands. "Why, what happened to your gloves?"

"It's not a big deal, really."

"Not a big deal? You must be dressed properly all the time for the most appropriate occasions!"

"Toadsworth, I don't mean to interrupt, but this occasion is anything but appropriate. And it's discernible by the Oblivion up there," Mario pointed at the sky. There was another glitchy hole that loomed over the castle. And like the ones they saw from the Mystic Ruins and Station Square, it was fairly large.

"At least tell me what happened to your gloves!"

"Really? You're more worried about some articles of clothing than a hole of death?" Sonic unenthusiastically groaned with his eyelids half open.

"Toadsworth," Luigi stood up to him, "that's on me. I got hurt when I wasn't looking, and she offered to cover up my wound with her gloves so I wouldn't have a major blood loss. She was looking out for me. That's it."

The old Toad poured his anxiety to the green plumber. "Oh my… I'm sorry, Master Luigi."

"It's okay. It was my fault anyway."

"Luigi, don't feel down on yourself again," Mario told him.

"But you're okay, right?" Toadette empathized.

"Better than how I felt over the last two days when I was comatose."

"I bet," Toad nodded. "When I saw you in bed, I was scared you wouldn't wake up."

"But we're sure happy he did. I didn't want to lose my buddy," said Yoshi.

"Hey, guys. Can we please get back to why we're here again?" Daisy brought up.

"Yeah. We need to get to Boo Woods, find the professor, clean the moon piece, and travel to Evershade Valley!" responded Tails.

"Then you might as well take the Mushroom Copter. I called a repair team to carry it from Sparkling Waters and rebuild it at the castle. Luckily, they finished it last night! And it's much more enhanced than the old version."

"Cool! Let's get going now!" Sonic ran past everyone.

Once they gathered at the helipad, they saw the Mushroom Copter in brand-new condition, as if Edge never electrocuted it.

"I think it's best if we stay here actually," Peach considered. "Because if Edge sends his robots to invade the kingdom, we might have to engage in combat."

"Just like Knuckles, Amy, and the others who are still in Mobius," Daisy understood her logic. "I guess you're right. And besides, we all can't fit inside."

"Aww, I wanted to join, too."

Mario patted the saddle of his dinosaur friend. "Don't be sad, Yoshi. I promise, we'll go on another adventure sometime together. Maybe we'll hang out at your island once we handle all of this and save the worlds."

"Okay. I'll be waiting for you and help out at the castle then. Good luck!"

"Thanks, Yoshi."

"Hurry up, Mario!" Sonic called from the doorway.

"Coming!"

He hopped inside and took his seat next to Luigi at the front of the cockpit. Tails and Sonic got themselves situated in the back. Colombo was already resting on Luigi's lap.

"Return to us safely again, Masters! We're counting on you!"

"We'll do our best, Toadsworth!"

"Good luck, Mario!" Peach yelled.

"You can do it, Luigi!" Daisy cheered.

"Sonic, Tails! I'll be rooting for you!" Yoshi waved.

The dynamic quartet waved back as Colombo let out a hearty bark to them. Then, the chopper lifted off the ground and left the town, making their way to the southern forest.

Meanwhile, Duplimore was still hiding in the grounds, this time concealed in an apple bush. He watched the heroes fly away from the castle. "It's about time. They've finally returned." He immediately called his partner. "Duplicit. I've got to tell you something."

"Weird. I was about to call you to say something, too. You beat me to it though."

"Yeah, well, I just want to inform you that Luigi and his friends have made it back to the Mushroom Kingdom. They're heading to Boo Woods first before departing to Evershade."

"Well at least that's good."

Duplimore raised an eyebrow. "You mean your news is bad?"

"Yes. No joking aside, this is what I found out. And believe me, it does NOT sound good at all."

"Lay it on me." Duplicit thoroughly explained what he overheard from the Shadow Spirit. It left Duplimore in shock. "Oh no. That _isn't_ good."

"I told you so."

"Alright. I'm gonna make my way there. Tell the boss on my behalf."

"Gotcha. I was going to tell him about this, and I'll make sure he knows of your impending arrival."

"Cool. Thanks."

"And by the way, when am I going to get my bet money?"

"Really, dude? Stop it," Duplimore scowled at him.

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

Another hole of the Oblivion floated high above Luigi's Mansion. By the time Mario landed the Copter in the woods, the five waddled to E. Gadd's front door. They heard his voice shortly after. "Fellows! Come on in, quickly."

The door unlocked, and they entered the lab. The professor and the Greenie ghost were both ecstatic and relieved to be reunited. Zephyr made a welcoming sound, eliciting a cheerful bark from Colombo.

"Welcome back! I'm very excited you've returned after all that mayhem!" the professor extended his arms out.

"Yeah, don't get us started on that, please," Sonic moaned.

"I presume you and the others from Sparkling Waters were saved, correct?"

"Yeah. Us three," Tails referred to Mario, Sonic, and himself, "Yoshi, Knuckles, Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot."

"Yoshi is with the princesses at the castle, and Eggman and his robots decided to stay at Chemical Plant to mend Metal Sonic," Mario clarified.

"Metal Sonic? You mean you faced that blue robotic doppelganger?"

"Luigi and the girls did. And Shrewd was the one to bring him to life."

"Criminy! No kidding?! I almost forgot about that darn ghost! Here, why don't you hand Zeph the Poltergust and you can tell me the gist of what happened in Mobius?"

Luigi nodded and removed the vacuum off his back. While they walked to the Storage Room, the heroes explained everything to E. Gadd. In the meantime, Zephyr attached the nozzle to the hose that sent the Shrewd Possessor down into the canister where the other possessed ghosts were held. He then attached the generator cord to recharge the Shriek Shields.

"Never in a million years would I ever expected Metal to be the next possessed entity. First a Cheep Chomp, then a gigantic tree monster, then Gooper Blooper, and Sonic's metal counterpart? It makes me wonder what Tough might have up his metaphorical sleeves."

"I rather not think about it," Luigi shuddered.

"Eh, that's beside the point. Let's get that Dark Moon piece cleaned up now. We already know the last one is at Evershade, likely in the Treacherous Mansion." E. Gadd gave Zephyr a thumbs-up, signaling him to turn on the Energy Suppressor.

"I did get another vision, though," Luigi mentioned as he placed the fragment on the turntable. As the piece got refurbished, he continued his anecdote. "The rest of Sonic's friends are definitely trapped there; in paintings, too."

"Your friends include those two hedgehogs and that detective agency, am I correct?"

"Silver, Faker, and the Chaotix. Yep, that's them."

"Sonic, was it really necessary to call Shadow that?"

"If it's better than Shads, then I'll refer to him as that," he smirked. His fox friend followed with a hand pinching his bangs, shaking his head with his eyes closed.

The Suppressor finished cleaning the fragment, but something happened before it got transferred into the Vault. Yes, the remaining fog over Treacherous Mansion did dissipate, but another event occurred inside the room. While the purple object glowed brightly, it shined brighter than before.

"Luigi, what's with your body?" Mario pointed at him.

He looked down to see himself glowing. He raised his right hand, examining the front and back of it. He did the same to his left, and peered at his feet. When he lifted his face, an energy orb shot out of the Dark Moon and rushed into him. Luigi was entranced with wide eyes and mouth agape. He almost lost his balance before Mario and Sonic ran to catch him by the underarms.

"Luigi?"

"Dude, you alright?"

Tails, Colombo, Zephyr, and E. Gadd watched him intrigue and concern. The green man blinked a couple times before shaking his head rapidly. He got back on his feet, thanks to his friends.

"Sorry. I didn't expect that."

"What happened?"

"I don't know. But I can say that I feel healthy again. Like, completely." He rolled up the left sleeve. There was supposed to be a scar from Scythe's blade. But it was gone, as if the body part was untouched. "My arm doesn't feel weak, and my scar disappeared, too. Everything in my body also feels normal, but exuberant."

"It's so similar to what took place the last three times," Tails deduced. "Whenever a powerful source glowed brightly, part of that energy entered Luigi's body to restore his condition. It happened with a combination of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Moon pieces at the hospital and that one night we spent here. And I tried using our Emeralds along with the third fragment to restore him prior to our adventure in the Sparkling Waters. This time, even though we don't have any of the Chaos Emeralds, this Dark Moon piece was able to recover his most recent injuries."

"But again," Sonic scratched his noggin, "why is this happening? What's the connection between the Emeralds and Dark Moon pieces? And why was this one capable to help him when we don't even a Chaos Emerald to try and combine their powers?"

"It's still mind-boggling to me too, Sonic. Regardless, I feel much better than how I was this morning," Luigi twitched his neck to the sides, letting out a loud crack.

"How do you feel about returning to Evershade, lad?" E. Gadd questioned.

"I'm not anticipating anything good, but lingering around isn't a choice. We only have three days before the Oblivion destroys everything."

"As long as we can recover the Dark Moon piece by tonight, we have two days to retaliate and override Edge," Mario dictated.

"But we're wasting more time waiting for this vacuum to regenerate the shields," complained Sonic.

"Actually, Zephyr and I spent the last three days enhancing the power generator. After all our hard work, this baby can recharge a Shriek Shield for every five minutes instead of thirty! Since you've used only twelve in your last run, that means it'll take an hour to get it up to max count."

"I mean, it's more efficient than waiting for several hours," praised Tails.

"But that's way too long for me. I hate waiting."

"It's better to be safe with those shields than sorry without them," Mario contemplated. "We might as well go shopping for the time being."

"Fine. But I'm gonna go for a run. Shopping just makes me think of Amy. And I like to count myself out." With that, Sonic dashed out of the lab.

"Are you going to run after him, Tails?"

"Him going on runs doesn't surprise me in the slightest," Tails sighed to Luigi. "I rather not follow because I hate chasing after him when he's miles ahead of me."

"Do you want to join us to shop for items?" Mario offered.

"Sure."

"When you get back, I can make some tea before we can head to Evershade."

"You mean you're going to join us?" Luigi asked.

"Precisely! I can just hide- I mean, do some more research in my secondary bunker there. We'll also take the other Dark Moon pieces with us, which is why I haven't transferred this one down into the Vault," he pointed at the one that settled on the Energy Suppressor. "Once we restore the last one, we can rebuild the entire moon and reverse the curse for all the ghosts!"

"Okay, then. And I would like some tea."

"Me, too," Mario added.

"I wouldn't mind as well," said Tails.

E. Gadd chuckled. "Anything for my friends." Colombo barked at him, his eyes begging for something. "Sure, I'll get you a golden bone, sonny."

"Bark! Bark!"

Luigi, Mario, and Tails left the bunker as Colombo stayed with E. Gadd and Zephyr. The three hopped onto the Mushroom Copter to fly back to Toad Town.

* * *

"What did you say, Duplicit?" the boss' deep voice boomed.

"Everything that I heard recently, sir. It's all verbatim. He's targeting not just the man in green, again, but his brother as well!" he spoke to his leader.

"Hmm… I am not satisfied with this at all."

"I'm sorry, but I don't how to stop him from accomplishing this. I don't have that much power besides metamorphosis. And neither Duplimore nor I have used that ability since we were hired. Instead, we've been browsing and eavesdropping, giving you updates every time something happens. Speaking of Duplimore, he called me to say he's on his way here. Same thing with the green hero and his friends."

"Is that so? At least that's one small detail that I can look up to."

"I'm going to return to my post and await Duplimore's arrival. Are you fine, sir?"

The figure had a grim look on his face, but he remained calm and collected. "Yes. I am fine. You can leave now, thank you."

Duplicit bowed and left the hidden headquarters. At the same time, another individual walked in from the shadows from the other side of the room.

"I could barely hear what Duplicit said. What was that about?"

The man turned to the woman who questioned him. "Dear, there's imminent danger from what it looks like."

"What kind of danger?"

"Something that could affect the green hero and his brother in a terrible way. We can only hope Duplimore and Duplicit can fulfill their jobs so we exploit everything to him. And if possible, we'll have to protect the man in red, too."

The female gasped softly. "You mean Mario?" He nodded. "But, what is Edge plotting against those two?"

A deep frown was expressed on the man's face. "He's going to force Luigi to fight against his brother."

* * *

By the time the trio returned, the Poltergust 6000 was replenished with the maximum count of Shriek Shields. The plumbers and the fox sat around the table, enjoying the professor's Honey Syrup-flavored tea he brewed. Colombo was gnawing on a bone underneath them. Meanwhile, E. Gadd retrieved the first four pieces of the Dark Moon from the basement and placed them next to the one Luigi retrieved from Shrewd. He went to his computer, adjusting the frequency of the Pixelator. Minutes later, Sonic came rushing in, skidding on his red kicks while blowing the tea out of his friends' cups. Unfortunately, some of Tails' hot drink spilled on Luigi's overalls.

"Ouch!" he reacted, getting up from his chair. "Aw… So much for this pair of clothes."

"Damn it, Sonic. Did you really have run by us like that?" Tails narrowed his eyes.

"Whoops. Sorry about that."

"You seriously can't take things slow, can't you?" Mario shook his head.

"I don't associate with anything related to 'slow'. You should already know that, Mario."

"Well neither 'patient' nor 'smart' are two other things that don't describe you."

"Hey, I said I was sorry! Don't say that crap to me!"

Mario rolled his eyes, giving up on this conversation.

" _Sigh_ , boys will be boys," E. Gadd said to himself as he continued typing away.

Zephyr hovered into the room with a roll of paper towels and a wireless hair dryer. He turned on the appliance, drying the wet spot for a couple minutes. He also took care of the spilled tea on the floor.

"Thanks, Zephyr."

The Greenie acknowledged his appreciation as he threw away the towels.

An image of the professor's shelter in Evershade appeared on the computer screen. E. Gadd rotated and hopped off his high chair. "Gentlemen, I got the Pixelator ready to send us to Evershade Valley. Does anyone have any questions before we take off?"

"Yeah. Why are we using the Pixelator when we have the Mushroom Copter? And two, since when did you plan on going with us?"

"Clearly you weren't here for that lecture. And I thought you knew better when it comes to speed." Tails had to explain everything Sonic missed after he ran off.

When he was done, E. Gadd handed a Dark Moon piece to each of the four protagonists. He kept the fifth one in the pocket of his lab coat. "I already gave word to Toadsworth that we'll have the helicopter on lock so that anyone won't try to hijack or destroy it while we're gone. Zephyr has taken the liberty to send us to the valley and stay behind to look after the lab."

"If everything's in check, then I guess we're ready," said Mario.

"Just wait for a sec." Luigi put the Poltergust on his back. "Now we're ready."

"Alrighty. Sonic and Tails, you youngsters will head out first. Mario and Colombo will go next. Luigi and I will follow suit. Just a warning though, my bunker in Evershade is not too big on square feet, so try not to accidentally bump into each other when you get there."

"Come on! Let's get there now!" Sonic spoke impatiently.

"Okay, Zephyr! Hit the switch!"

The ghost made a noise and gave a hand gesture to signal he was ready. However, he grabbed a wrench from the tool rack and floated over to a tablet-like device with two detachable controllers, held inside a rectangular dock. He raised the metal item and…

"ZEPHYR! Not _that_ Switch! **_(2)_** The switch on my chair!"

"You could've said 'joystick' to avoid confusion," Luigi rolled his eyes.

The Greenie now understood what Gadd meant. He pressed the joystick on the professor's chair to activate the red camera. Once he did, the computer screen shot a beam at Tails and Sonic to transform them into pixels. He did it again to send Mario and Colombo through the green subspace. Luigi breathed in deeply as Zephyr was about to press the button a third time.

"Don't worry, Luigi. I'll be right next to you."

"Thanks, Professor. _But that's not what I'm worried about most,_ " he thought that last sentence with a hint of dread. He lowered his head and placed his hands on his hat, crouching as he awaited to be pixelated.

By then, the two entered the screen as their materialized bodies transported to their destination. Luigi was now one step closer to saving the Evershade ghosts again, and another step further to prevent Edge from fulfilling his master plan. Still, he could only wonder how he and his friends were going to pull it off.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I chose to postpone Luigi's true return to Evershade Valley until the start of Ch. 44, so I'm sorry if I got your hopes up too early. Regardless, he, alongside Mario, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo, must find their friends and save them from the paintings. Afterwards, they'll have to fight the Tough Possessor and defeat him to claim the final Dark Moon fragment. But will Myster Edge hinder our heroes before they could get the chance?_

 _I'll do my best to get the next chapter in by Christmas. Once that happens, Hidden Bravery will go back to its schedule of one upload every other Monday (unless I'm busy). But until we meet again, this is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _In the story mode of Super Smash Bros. Brawl, the Subspace Bombs were detonated to consume many stages throughout the World of Trophies. The regions were then combined to form 'The Great Maze', the WORST part of the campaign. But anyways, the multiple black holes replaced the lost colonies. I wanted to compare those to the Oblivion in this story._

 ** _(2):_** _I don't even need to explain this PCN._


	45. Ch 44: Painted into a Corner

_A/N:_ _Merry Christmas, everybody! It's time for Luigi and the gang to enter the Treacherous Mansion to find Shadow, Silver, and the Chaotix. But there will be more than just that as the Oblivion continues to grow larger, thus getting closer to consuming all worlds…_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I only take credit for the story and my OCs. Mario and Sonic belong to Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 44:** Painted into a Corner

 _Location: Evershade Valley_

Inside the bunker, in the shape of E. Gadd's head, the red camera made some small movements to aim at the open space. Pixels of blue and yellow exited out of the Pixelator, allowing Sonic and Tails to land. Once they did, they placed their moon fragments on a small table.

Sonic whistled. "The Professor wasn't kidding when he said there isn't much space in here. I hope it doesn't get too cramped with the six of us."

"This place makes the Storage Room look like the real deal when it's only a replica at a larger scale," Tails looked around. He found himself admiring the large Pixelator screen that E. Gadd used to transport Luigi to the neighboring mansions. "Man, the Professor really knows how to set up his equipment, though. It's all so clean and efficient. My workshop is filled with just a bunch of scattered blueprints and outdated inventions."

"But hey, at least they helped us in the past against Egghead, am I right?"

"True, but I don't want to be too boastful about it."

Later, the Pixelator shot out Mario and Colombo. "Whew, just made it," sighed the plumber.

"So now it's only E. Gadd and Luigi we have to wait for, right?"

"That's what the plan was. But if anything happens to Luigi again, I'll be a bit concerned," he mentioned, placing his moon piece next to the other two.

Sonic didn't feel like talking to Mario after his rude comment he shared at the professor's main shelter. He turned away, pretending to inspect one of Gadd's inventions.

"I'm still worried about our friends. They've been trapped over an entire week, and we haven't spoken to them since the party."

"Don't worry, Tails. We'll be sure to rescue them, right Sonic?"

"Maybe, especially with Tails and Luigi. They must be _smart_ enough to traverse us through the mansion."

Mario frowned when he heard emphasis on that word. "Sonic, if it's about what I said earlier, I was only kidding."

He sent a cold stare to him. "Kidding? The way you said that shit to me didn't sound sarcastic."

"I'm sorry you felt that way. I didn't mean to offend you or anything."

"Oh, I'm sorry, too. Sorry that you had to drag your fat ass all the way to help your brother when you've done almost nothing."

Mario narrowed his eyes. "Excuse me?"

"Yeah, you heard me. This may be revolved around Luigi, but I bet you'll find a way to take credit for everything he's done, just like how it's happened many times in the past!"

Tails sweated from their confrontation. They were supposed to be best friends. Everything was supposed to be fine. But now it's like they're rivals all over again. He looked down at the Polterpup, to which he did the same. Colombo slightly whimpered to see them verbally fight.

Mario came face to face with the fiery Blue Blur. "You're really going to bring that up to discussion? Since when have I ever _wanted_ to steal the spotlight from my bro? I don't do it intentionally! I even said this back at the clinic! And don't say I didn't do anything!"

"Okay, fine. You fought some ghosts and a few enemies. But what else have you done? Get yourself captured?"

"That's happened to you, too! So what? We may be heroes, but not everyone is perfect. That applies to both of us and everyone else who contributed their share to this journey!"

"And you harshly criticized me for rushing by and accidentally burning Luigi? It was a mistake I couldn't handle! You probably made bigger mistakes that make you look more stupid than what I did!"

"Mistakes, yes. But in terms of stupidity, probably not on your level."

"What is that supposed to mean?!" Since they were inches away from each other, Sonic was on the verge of tackling him. Before he could dare himself to do it, he was interrupted by a scream.

"GUYS! STOP IT!"

Sonic and Mario turned their heads away from their vendetta to see an exasperated two-tailed fox.

"What the hell is wrong with you two? We're supposed to be working together to find our friends, save them, and oust the final Possessor to restore the Dark Moon. We did not come all this way just to get into the middle of some more useless bickering. I'm ashamed to witness you guys acting like a bunch of four-year olds. And yet, I'm only eight, acting like the mature one here."

The two remained silent, yet shocked to see him so livid.

"The point is, this is not the time to be arguing, especially when we're days away from potentially dying at the hands of a crazed villain with the seven Chaos Emeralds, need I remind you. And worst of all, we won't make any progress whatsoever if you continue this for no fucking reason. Can you please take five seconds to relax and calm yourselves down? I don't care if you have to sit in the corner or twiddle your thumbs. Just as long as you aren't spitting words or looking at each other for Chaos' sake. You two need a break. And I hate it when I see you like this."

The hedgehog blinked before speaking in a hushed tone. "Tails… We never meant to make you mad this way." He tried to put his hand on the kit's shoulder, but he shifted away.

"Don't. I'm just saying, focus on what matters the most right now. I need some fresh air," he walked out of the bunker.

From there, Sonic felt guilty for making his friend upset. He turned around to see Mario. They remained silent for quite some time. The hedgehog, however, was not in the best situation right now with the red clad man. He folded his arms, closed his eyes, and shifted his head.

Mario, however, had a face riddled with self-reproach. Looking back, he grimaced for mentioning those insensitive words back at Boo Woods. He was about to say something, until the Pixelator moved. It soon spawned Luigi and E. Gadd's pixels. The professor conveniently landed in his chair, but the green man fell onto his bottom like he usually does whenever he was sent here.

"Ouch… Why do I always land in the most uncomfortable way possible?" he scratched the sore spot while getting up.

"Eh, don't sweat over it, sonny. I see that the others have placed the other fragments on the table. Thank you for that."

"Hey, where's Tails?"

Sonic showed his emerald pupils. "He went outside to get some air."

Luigi discerned how Sonic was a bit tense when he said that. "Is something wrong?"

"Nah, it's nothing," he fibbed, waving it off. "We were just waiting for you to arrive."

"Ruff!"

"Well, based off Colombo's body language, that doesn't sound like the truth."

"I rather not speak of it. Let's just get to the mansion already. I'll go get Tails so we can leave soon."

Sonic left the shelter, leaving the professor, the Polterpup, and the Mario Bros. alone. While E. Gadd typed on his keyboard to set up the Pixelator, Luigi whispered to Mario.

"Did something happen between him and Tails?"

Mario leaned back on the wall and dragged his body down. He sighed once he reached the floor. "It's not about them. But it does involve Sonic."

"And you, I suppose?" He was given a nod. "What happened?"

"We got into another argument."

"Why?"

"Because of my remarks to him before we came here. There was some bad blood here and there, then Tails basically told us to man up. He was disappointed to see us fight when we were going back and forth at each other." Mario shook his head in disapproval, towards himself that is. "Go ahead."

"What?"

"Go ahead. Say that it was wrong of me for what I did."

"Mario… I can't say that."

"Why not? It's that easy."

"It's not about that. Remember we had a verbal argument at the hospital, and I was the one who started it? It took me a while to realize what I did was wrong. And so, I apologized. You did the same thing. I think it's best if you both apologize to each other to break the tension apart."

"But if what if he doesn't accept my apology? What if we continue to have bad chemistry with each other? I'm actually concerned he's willing to spin dash me unexpectedly."

"Then for now, once we get to the Treacherous Mansion, we'll just split you two up so that it won't be awkward. But I'm sure Sonic will say sorry back to you eventually. Maybe not now, but I bet he will soon."

"You think so?"

"Yeah."

Mario felt a little better, but he kept a neutral face. "Thanks, Luigi."

"You're welcome, Mario. You are my older brother. And I don't like it when I see you upset."

"You know, that's one reason why I like you. You're so unselfish and you think others' concern."

Luigi blushed at his compliment and pulled him up so he was standing. Afterwards, Sonic and Tails returned to the interior.

"Alright, boys. My Pixelator should be set up to send you to Treacherous Mansion. I hope you are ready."

"I'm pretty sure we are. Are you two ready?" Luigi asked the fox and the hedgehog.

After eyeing at one another for a quick second, Tails responded, "Yeah, we're good to go."

Mario gave a glance at the blue hedgehog, who didn't say anything. He just had a small smirk on his muzzle. While he was confused, he heard Colombo growling lowly behind. Luigi noticed this, too.

"Colombo, what are you doing? It's only Sonic and Tails. We ventured with them for the past week."

The Polterpup disregarded his owner's words and dared to show his teeth.

"What's up with him?"

"I don't know, Tails. I've never seen him act like this towards you before. You've been here for so long that he's used to seeing you two. Now it's like you are total strangers to him."

"Whatever his problem is doesn't concern me. We gotta save our friends and stop Edge as soon as possible!" Sonic exclaimed.

"Hey, Sonic, are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm alright. Why you ask?"

"Because I felt guilty for arguing with you. I just want to say that I'm sorry I butted heads with you."

Sonic stretched his lips before he went back to a grin. "Nah, it's fine."

"So, do you forgive me?"

"Yeah, sure."

Mario blinked for a second. He noticed how Sonic just took the situation casually. Did Tails say something that changed his attitude prior to him leaving the bunker? Was Sonic really that forgivable? He thought heavily about it, but decided to leave it as is. There was no point on trying to interrogate him.

"Here, Luigi," E. Gadd tossed him a green key. "That's a spare to open up the front door, just in case it's locked."

"Got it," he stuffed the item in his pocket.

"This time, I'll send the Mario Bros. and Colombo out first. Sonic and Tails, you'll follow after them."

"Okay," the fox understood.

"Let's get this over with," Luigi prepared for another uncomfortable transport.

"Good luck out there!" E. Gadd pressed the joystick, and the large screen pulled in the plumbers and the Polterpup. Once there were gone, he was about to transport the Mobians through the Pixelator, but not before he received a small farewell message.

* * *

 _Location: Station Square_

"Amy. Amy! Do you read me?"

The pink hedgehog answered her communicator. "Knuckles, what's the sitch?"

"I got another warning from the Master Emerald. Myster Edge should be sending his robots soon to attack."

"We already got that, Knucklehead," Rouge said over Amy's shoulder.

"Rouge, would you lay off of me?"

"Not even in your dreams, enchilada."

"I'm a freaking echidna, you dingbat!"

"Just give us more information about their arrival," Blaze urged impatiently.

"Ugh, the robots are warping to the zones wherever the black holes of the Oblivion are found. That includes not just Station Square, but also Chemical Plant Zone and Emerald Hill Zone like you mentioned to me before."

"So what do we do?" Cream asked.

"I want the five of you to split up into two groups. One team will leave for Emerald Hill while the other remains behind to protect Station Square. However, one of you must get in contact with Eggman, as much as I regret to say. And if possible, get some backup from anyone who's willing to fight alongside with you. I am aware that there are more areas to cover, but we can't defend all of them. We just have to deal with what we got."

"Are Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot still in Chemical Plant?" Blaze raised an eyebrow.

"Seems so. And even though they'll be reluctant to join forces with us, or rather just Eggman, we have no choice but to warn them."

"We understand, Knuckles. But what about you?"

"I'll do my best to summon the Master Emerald's powers to keep the robots at bay. I suspect some will be coming my way to try to destroy the Emerald or, in general, invade Angel Island. But don't worry about me. Just do as I say."

"Might as well go with it," Rouge shrugged.

"Do you want us to tell Peach and our friends in the Mushroom Kingdom?" Amy questioned.

"Yeah. It'd be important for them to know about this, too."

"Gotcha. Thanks for the update."

"No problem. And stay safe," Knuckles disconnected the call.

"I'll go with Rouge to Chemical Plant to convince Eggman to fight with us. If it works, we'll be off to Emerald Hill."

"Okay. Cream, Cheese, and I will stay behind and warn the others."

"Please be careful, guys," Cream begged.

"We'll be sure of it," Rouge winked. She then went off with the purple cat to return to the toxic zone.

Subsequently, the hedgehog activated her communicator. "Peach! We just came to warn you about something."

"Yes, what is it?" she replied.

"Knuckles gave us a quick word of what's about to happen." She explained everything the echidna told her.

"Oh my! That's terrible!"

"I know! So tell the others about this. Daisy, Yoshi, the Toads, and just about everybody!"

"I'll address it immediately. Thanks for telling me."

"Anything to help out. Good luck and kick some butt."

"You too, Amy," she ended the call.

"So where do we go now?"

"Let's see if we can find anyone who will help us take down those Shadelings. Let's head that way."

"Chao!" Cheese yelled as he, Cream, and Amy ran off in the city streets.

* * *

At the front door, the Pixelator spewed out pixels of Colombo, Mario, and Luigi. The first two landed cleanly on the stone surface. Luigi, however, fell on his bottom yet again.

"Oof! Seriously, why do I always land like this?"

Before Mario could say something or get him on his feet, Tails appeared and landed on top of him.

"Ugh!"

"Ooh, sorry about that."

"It's okay, Tails. I didn't expect you to drop in on me, literally."

And before either of them could stand, Sonic materialized in his full form, above the fox and the green plumber.

"Look out bel-"

"OW!" the two grunted.

"Mamma Mia," Mario cringed and brought everyone up.

Sonic dusted himself off. "Well, that was not the kind of landing I anticipated."

"At least you fell on your stomach. Otherwise I would have had quills to the face," Tails groaned.

"Here we are, Treacherous Mansion." The five viewed the entrance to the humongous residence. After a while, Mario walked up to the door and tugged at the handle. "Seems to be locked."

"Maybe. But you're supposed to push the front door instead," Luigi mentioned.

"Oh. Well I didn't know! I've only been here while I was stuck in a painting."

"It's alright, Mario. I'll check it out." Luigi stepped forward and pushed. The doors were locked, so he grabbed the key and turned it in the keyhole. He breathed in deeply before he opened the entryway. Inside was the Front Entrance. He led the group and browsed the area. "Huh, the E-Gates are deactivated for some reason."

"E-Gates?" Sonic reiterated.

"They're basically shortcut portals that send us to the exhibits found throughout Treacherous. But last time I was here, they were all working, because I was the one who activated them!"

"Do you think the ghosts have done something to make them not work?" Mario wondered.

"Maybe, but I don't know. Looks like we have to do this the long way."

"Luigi! Behind you!" Tails shouted.

He rotated to find a Strong Greenie. He was just like any ordinary Greenie, but with lines that gave him a cracked appearance, just like the Possessors. He reacted with the Strobulb and sucked up the ghoul.

"Whew. Thanks, Tails."

"No problem."

"Do you remember where the paintings are, Luigi?" Sonic asked.

"Yeah, I do. Vector is in the Jungle Exhibit, which is east of this area. Silver is in the northwest where the Ice Age Exhibit is located. I know Shadow is trapped in the Ancient Exhibit, in the northeast portion. And on the second floor, Charmy and Espio are stuck in the Train and Space Exhibits, respectively."

"So, what's the plan?" Tails scratched his head.

"Well, the paintings should be the same as the one I was trapped in. And the only way out is if he shines his Dark-Light Device at the frame. Maybe we should all go together," Mario reasoned.

"I can agree with that," Luigi nodded. "In case we encounter any ghosts, we can try to fight them while Colombo and I will provide most of the defense. Plus, I also have the Strobulb to reinstate the portals."

"Actually, I prefer if we split up. Tails, Mario, and I can find some of the paintings and bring them back here to free our friends."

Mario turned to Sonic. "But wouldn't it be better if we all went together?"

"I just thought we can retrieve the paintings faster, you know? We don't have to rescue them one-by-one. We can release all five at once, and they can help us find the Tough Possessor that way."

He then looked at the fox. "Tails, didn't you say you want us to be split up after what when down in the bunker?"

"Did I?"

The red plumber raised an eyebrow in suspicion. "Um, yes..."

"Huh. I don't remember saying that. But if I did, just ignore it. Maybe you two will be okay since you apologized earlier."

Mario was perplexed. Things were very awkward between them after the heated confrontation. Then all of a sudden, Sonic wanted to split up into groups, yet join his side. And now Tails was fine with the two of them being in the same team. Mario had the urge to inquire on what their beef was. Yet, he didn't want to argue with either one.

Mario wasn't the only one who was bewildered. Luigi stared at his friends with a strange glance. For the same reason, he wasn't sure if this plan made sense.

"Trust me on this. We can save them faster by going to the exhibits and having all the paintings at once. After all, 'fast' is my middle name.

"I thought it was 'the'," Luigi tilted his head.

"Eh, you know what I mean."

"You know what? Whatever. Let's just follow his plan."

"Are you sure, Mario?"

"Honestly, I don't want to cause another stupid quarrel. I trust you and Colombo since you're the expert ghost hunters."

Luigi wanted to rethink their approach, but Tails spoke up for reassurance.

"Don't worry, Luigi. We'll watch out for Mario, and each other as well. You and the dog can start your search in the Jungle Exhibit while the three of us head off to the Ice Age Exhibit. And since the other paintings are on the second floor, why don't all meet up at the Terrace once we recover everyone?"

"Okay…. I guess I'll also go to the Ancient Exhibit to take Shadow's painting."

"When we do get to the second floor, we'll find Espio and you two can save Charmy."

"You linked my communicator to your 3DS, right?" reminded Mario.

"Yes, I did."

"Okey-dokey, then. We'll see you at the Terrace."

"See you guys soon."

They all went their separate ways. Going down the East Gallery, Colombo trudged on the carpet with a frustrated frown. Luigi could hear him grumble.

He stopped walking in the middle of the hallway. "Colombo, what's the matter?"

The Polterpup halted and turned to face him. "Grr…"

"Did I do something wrong?"

He shook his head.

"Was this about Mario's earlier outburst?"

Another shake of the head told him 'no'.

A light bulb lit up in Luigi's head. "Did it have to do with Sonic and Tails?"

"Arf! Arf!" he responded with a gruff bark.

"I remember you acted angry in front of them before we got pixelated here. And apparently, you're still not happy with them. What's the reason behind it? Months ago, I introduced you to them, and you all got along-" he snapped his fingers, "-just like that. Now it's like you think they're strangers or something."

The two remained still in the hallway without making a sound for a few seconds.

"Colombo, is this an instinct you have that I can't perceive?"

Without hesitation, the dog softened his expression and nodded.

"Unfortunately, I can't read your mind, so I have no idea on what you're thinking about. But I'll make a note of it. If Sonic and Tails are hiding something, which I have no idea why if they're our best friends, maybe we'll figure out why they wanted to separate us from them. Believe me though, it did sound a bit fishy to me."

They strode down the hallway before making their way into the next location, the Jungle Exhibit.

* * *

In the West Gallery, Mario, Sonic, and Tails strolled past two suits of armor and a gargoyle statue. Opening the next door, they found themselves in the Dark Age Exhibit. The room boasted some large bookcases, as well as some more knight armor and relics that represented the time of the middle ages.

To the north was another door that reached the Grand West. The large corridor led to an intersection where the Inner Courtyard was to the right and the Ice Age Exhibit was several feet ahead. And luckily, not a single trace of a ghost or a robot encountered the trio.

Entering the freezing room, there were holes with fish in the snowy floor, an igloo that had an E-Gate, a realistic-looking mammoth standing on a wooden stage, a ventilation duct with some air conditioners, and a dark cave. While Sonic and Tails inspected the igloo, Mario peeked through the hole of the ice wall that blocked the cavern and saw Silver trapped in a frame. **_(1)_**

"Hey, guys! I found Silver!"

"That's good," said Tails, picking up something.

"Now that we found him, how do we get him out of there?"

"I think a better question is, how are _you_ gonna get out of here?"

Mario scrunched his eyebrows when he heard Sonic ask that. "What? What do you mean-"

He turned around and was met with a spray cloud of gas. Mario's eyes widened before shielding them. He covered his mouth and nose. But that didn't stop him from smelling the noxious odor.

He coughed, starting to lose balance and vision. "What the heck was tha- OW!"

The next thing he felt was something hard. Something as hard as a shovel to the head. He fell onto the ground as unconsciousness took over his body.

Sonic and Tails stood over him. Without speaking, the hedgehog held him from the underarms while the fox carried his legs. They promptly departed the exhibit, leaving the silver hedgehog behind.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _What the hell just happened? Sonic and Tails are turning their backs against Mario? Why? Will Luigi and Colombo learn about this?_

 _This chapter was anything but holly or jolly. However, I wish everybody a Merry Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a safe break. Hidden Bravery will continue in 2018, one week after the start of January. And from the bottom of my heart, I want to thank everybody for reading and leaving me nice reviews because this is basically the one-year anniversary since I published this fanfiction. Without your support, I wouldn't have made it this far._

 _Happy Holidays! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _The way Silver was stuck in the Treacherous Mansion was the same as the Purple Toad when he was imprisoned in Dark Moon. But it will take some time to rescue him based off the cliffhanger._


	46. Ch 45: Suspicions

_A/N:_ _A week into 2018, and I want to thank you guys for helping this story reach_ _ **30 favorites**_ _,_ _ **140+ reviews**_ _, and_ _ **12,500+ hits**_ _! This is the last chapter before I start my spring semester, but I'll try my best to stick to the upload schedule._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I only own the story idea and nothing more._

* * *

 **Chapter 45:** Suspicions

Walking into the Jungle Exhibit, Luigi and Colombo saw that the room was dark. Other than that, everything looked the same as it was when the former first discovered this place. Plants, vines, roots, and shrubberies were found below the wooden deck while tree-like platforms grew above near the ceiling. It was sort of similar to the Haunted Towers. The only disturbing part was the Flytrap blocking the stream of water, flowing down to the lower level. And behind that the voracious plant was Vector the Crocodile. Colombo looked up to see his owner pondering.

"It seems I have to repeat what I did the first time I was here. To get rid of the Flytrap, I need to feed it a spiked plant ball. But if I also remember correctly, there should be some ghosts to pop up."

Luigi spoke too soon as two purple gates blocked the doors. Two strong Greenies appeared to spook him.

"EYAAH!" he jumped, fumbling the flashlight. The enemies chuckled together before turning invisible.

Colombo barked in his direction, indicating one holding a spear nearby. Luigi shined the Dark-Light Device to reveal the first green ghost. As he was about to poke him, he got stunned by the Strobulb and was struggling from the suction power. Luigi dragged his feet as he endured against the ghost trying to escape. He had to jump and lose his power gauge when the second Greenie attempted to punch him. The ghoul missed and disappeared. Luigi managed to capture the first one.

"Colombo, do you sense him nearby?"

The Polterpup sniffed the air to find the hidden Greenie. He woofed down towards the bottom. Luigi understood and ran over to the far end of the exhibit, passing by the Flytrap who tried to chomp him. He grabbed a vine cord with the vacuum and descended. He turned on the Dark-Light Device, searching for the invisible ghost. The rainbow shine uncovered him hiding behind a wooden post. He tried scaring Luigi, but that time he didn't falter. Luigi charged the light to freeze the foe. He pulled the spirit in the hose successfully. When the ghosts were gone, the purple gates went away, and the lights turned on.

Luigi put a hand over his heart, feeling relieved. "Whew. Thanks, boy."

"Arf!"

"Alright. We got this little stem we need to grow to get the spiked plant ball. **_(1)_** This flower spring should take us back up. But instead, we need to take the E-Gate which should be behind the water over here."

The man walked underneath the waterfall, but decided to wash up a little after that minor fight. **_(2)_ ** He flashed the Strobulb on the green, circular panel to activate the portal.

"Now that the shortcut is open, let's head to the Dark Age Exhibit and find a bucket."

"Ruff!"

* * *

"Ugh… Ngh…" a voice mumbled. The individual managed to wake up, blinking his eyes repeatedly. He found himself lying on his stomach. Pushing against his gloved hands, he got up on his knees and looked around. After rubbing his temple, which somehow hurt like hell, he found himself in a cell.

"Oh, come on. I'm being held against my will _again_? When will this stop?"

The person heard something from behind. He turned around and gasped. He found someone else lying against the stone wall with their eyes closed.

"Tails!"

"Mmm…" he groaned. He barely managed to open his eyes. When he did, he was fully awake. "S-Sonic?!"

"Yeah, it's me, buddy," he laid a hand on his shoulder for comfort. "You okay?" He cringed when he stared at the small bruises on his body.

"I don't know. Where are we?"

"I was going to ask you. But, what even happened? I can't recall anything."

"I'm not sure either. The last thing I remembered-" Tails' eyes bulged as his memory came to him. "I went outside the bunker after you and Mario were fighting. But while I was there, these ghosts came out nowhere!"

…

 _"I need some fresh air," he walked out of the bunker._

 _The fox stood five feet away from the door and took in his surroundings. The Gloomy Manor stood tall from a short distance. And far away, he could see the other four buildings: the Haunted Towers, the Old Clockworks, the Secret Mine, and the Treacherous Mansion. He slightly shuddered from seeing how ominous the Oblivion was, spinning in a circular motion like an inescapable black hole in space._

 _"Chaos, that's so disturbing to look at. I better head back ins- Mmmph!" Someone from behind managed to restrain Tails._

 _"Let's just get to the mansion already. I'll go get Tails so we can leave soon."_

 _Sonic left the shelter, leaving the professor, the Polterpup, and the Mario Bros. alone. He searched for his fox friend, but didn't see him anywhere._

 _"Tails? Buddy?" He didn't get a response. "Tails, where are you?" He was getting impatient at the moment. "If you're hiding from me, this better not be a joke. We need to get going."_

 _Suddenly, he heard a shriek that made his heart race with dread. "Sonic!"_

 _He easily knew whose voice that was. "Tails!"_

 _Sonic heard it from behind, so he ran around to the other side of the bunker. The last thing he wanted was his best friend being kidnapped, hurt, or both. His shoes skidded on the grass when he approached a horde of strong Evershade ghosts. A Slammer was holding Tails, who was shaking tremendously. A Greenie and a Sneaker harassed the yellow kitsune by spooking him, inches away from his frightened face. Tears developed in his eyes._

 _"S-Stop! Let me go!"_

 _Sonic furiously growled at the scene. He tried to attack them while they were off guard. Unluckily, a strong Hider came out of a bush to throw a banana peel in Sonic's path. The hedgehog slipped, and his body hit the ground hard._

 _"Urgh!" he grunted._

 _"Sonic! Help! AAHHH!"_

 _He heard the loud yelps from the fox. Getting up slowly, he made another run at the ghosts. Yet again, he was obstructed by more ghosts coming out of nowhere. This time, a Slammer bashed his hands to form a shock wave. As Sonic was stunned, a different Sneaker pushed him to the ground. To make matters worse, a second Greenie slammed a shovel on his head, knocking the lights out of him._

 _"SONIC!"_

 _Before he passed out, he made a mental apology. "Tails… Mario… I'm sorry…"_

…

"I guess those ghosts also made me unconscious after they took you down. They must have placed us here afterwards."

"Damn it. I wish I would've see those ghosts coming." He breathed through his nose and stared at the fox. "I'm sorry, bud."

Tails looked at him with confusion.

"I'm sorry that I fought with Mario. You were right. We should've focused on the task at hand, but all we did was do something stupid and regrettable. Plus, I didn't save you from those ghosts. Now we're stuck again."

"Well, I forgive you, Sonic. But let's focus on how to get out of here."

"Sonic? Tails? Is that you?"

The two heard an old voice.

"Where's that coming from?"

"Sonic, look!" he pointed at one of the side walls.

A concrete brick was being pushed towards their cell. When it fell, a familiar figure was seen from the small hole. They gasped when they saw who was on the other side.

* * *

Reaching the west wing, Luigi inspected the layout of the Dark Age Exhibit. Unlike the time Mario passed this room, the lights were out. He saw one of the iron maidens shaking. Two bookcases were both missing a red and blue book, respectively. A treasure chest was emitting a purple aura, being unable to open at the moment.

Luigi gulped. "Time for some more jump scares."

He opened the coffin-like box. A strong Sneaker scared the living daylights out of him.

"AAHHH!"

Falling onto his bottom, he got back up and searched with the Dark-Light Device. Colombo sniffed around for any other incoming ghouls. When Luigi spotted the entity, he shined the Strobulb to stun him. He struggled heavily against the purple ghost, but captured him successfully.

Afterwards, Colombo barked near a knight. Luigi followed him and shook the metal suit. Three more ghosts appeared: two strong Greenies, and a Strong Hider. One of the Greenies had a bucket over his head. Luigi flashed the light on the other since his face was visible. He jumped to dodge the flying objects the Hider was throwing at him. After finishing off the first Greenie, the one with the bucket punched him, only to miss when Luigi ducked and rolled. He waited for the moment he raised it over his head to reveal his face. He shined it and sucked up the second green ghost.

Colombo traced the Hider in another suit of armor, this one being next to the treasure chest. The plumber caused him to pop out of his hiding spot. From there, he finished the ghost hunt by trapping him in the Poltergust with the other three he caught.

After the lights turned on, Luigi took off his cap and wiped the sweat off his forehead. "Another hunt completed. Thanks again, boy."

"Bark! Bark!"

"The E-Gate should be behind this red bookcase. But where is this missing book?"

"Arf!" Colombo barked near the treasure chest.

"Maybe you're right. Let's open it."

When he lifted the top, a blue book was resting inside.

"Well, that's where the blue one is. But there was a gem here the last time I inserted it."

Nonetheless, he placed it in the empty slot. The bookcase shifted to reveal the red book. But they also stumbled upon a metal key.

"Huh, this doesn't look like the usual golden keys that unlock the doors in the mansions. I wonder what this is for. Might as well keep it, just in case."

Luigi pushed the red book in place to expose the hidden portal.

"Next, let's bring this bucket to the Jungle Exhibit to water the plant.

He and Colombo warped to the Front Entrance, then back to the Jungle Exhibit via shortcut. He strolled under the waterfall to fill the wooden pail. Reaching the small sprout, he poured the water for the spiked plant ball to grow.

"Nice! Now we can get rid of the Flytrap and save Vector!"

"Arf!"

They sprung up from the flower with the spiked ball attached to the Poltergust. Luigi aimed it at the plant who was looking back hungrily. The ball shot in its mouth, and it chomped on it before decaying. Luigi grinned before he realized something.

"Hey, Colombo. Should we wait until we take his painting to the Terrace? Or should we free him now?"

The Polterpup tilted his head before he barked twice, implying to go with the second option.

"Alright. I'm going against Sonic and Tails here, but he's been trapped for over a week at this point. He deserves freedom. Let me inform Mario and them before we do."

He pulled out his 3DS to call Mario first. But he wasn't picking up. Confused, he tried Tails' communicator. When that didn't work, he contacted Sonic. The result was the same.

Luigi raised an eyebrow. "I don't know why they're not answering me. It's not like them to just ignore the call. Unless… something bad happened to them."

He got a bit worried, yet he was skeptical, too. That conversation with the Mobians didn't seem normal for the right reasons.

"Should I call E. Gadd?"

Colombo tilted his head, as a way of shrugging.

"Might as well."

He tapped the professor's name on his device. Waiting for a response, all he heard was the constant tone.

"I don't get it. Why are none of them picking up? First Mario, then Tails, Sonic, and E. Gadd, too! What the hell is going on?"

Colombo wished he knew the answer. With no other choice, Luigi walked up to the portrait and shined the Dark-Light Device. Slowly but surely, the crocodile emerged from the painting.

"Huh? Whoa!" Vector yelled as he fell onto the stream.

"Vector? Are you okay?"

"Ugh… Oh, hey Luigi! It's been so long since I've seen you!"

"Same here."

"Last time I remember, the evil shadow guy hurt you at the princess' castle. But you seem to rebound yourself!"

"Thanks, Vector. But listen. There's no time to stand here and talk. We need to rescue the others before the Oblivion consumes everything by Wednesday!"

"The Oblivion? What's that?"

"I'll explain everything on the way. But right now, follow us to the Ancient Exhibit."

"Ruff!"

"Whatever you say. I'll help out in any way possible."

* * *

"Professor E. Gadd?!"

"Eh, funny meeting you two youngsters here," the old man scratched the back of his head.

"What the heck are you doing here?!" Sonic was blinking and shaking his head to see if he was dreaming or not.

"More like how did you get here?" Tails asked the real question.

"I was wondering the same thing for you two. But since you asked first, I was in my Evershade bunker with Mario, Luigi, and Colombo. I was about to send you guys after them, until…"

…

 _"Good luck out there!" E. Gadd pressed the joystick, and the large screen pulled in the plumbers and the Polterpup. Once there were gone, he was about to transport the Mobians through the Pixelator, but not before he received a small farewell message. **(3)**_

 _"Hey, Professor."_

 _"Yes, Sonic?"_

 _"We just wanted to ask you a question before we leave."_

 _"What's that?" His finger was hovering over the button._

 _"Did you know you look cute when you're asleep?" Tails queried._

 _"Um…" E. Gadd didn't know how to respond to that. "I guess I'll take that as a compliment. Not trying to sound weird or anything, but have you ever seen me slee-"_

 _He was interrupted by some gas emitting from behind. He smelled the stench, and his head wobbled from the dizzy effect before he fell off his chair. 'Sonic' and 'Tails' smirked as a figure appeared from being invisible._

 _"Hehe, excellent work,_ _ **Slimmer**_ _and_ _ **Clawdio**_ _. My transformation skills worked out perfectly," said Myster Edge._

 _"No problem, boss," Slimmer replied, posing as the Sonic clone._

 _"What's next, sir?" Clawdio, as the fake Tails, asked._

 _"The ghosts will bring him to the basement with the real hedgehog and fox. You two will follow those stupid plumbers to the mansion. Make sure you separate the red one from Luigi. If successful, I'll handle the rest. If not, then expect some punishment as I do the work myself."_

 _"A little harsh, but we got it."_

 _"Send us through."_

 _Edge pushed the joystick to send his robots through the screen. Once Slimmer and Clawdio were gone, the Shadow Spirit used his scepter to carry the scientist outside. He was met with another set of ghosts._

 _"Ghouls, bring him to the Dungeon Cells. Lock him up with the others."_

 _They listened to his orders and floated over to the faraway mansion. Edge snickered to himself._

 _"Oh, Luigi. Your friends will have a great time rotting in prison again. And your brother will suffer a different fate before I finish you off. And the Oblivion will finally consume everything to my advantage! HAHAHAHA!"_

…

"So Edge kidnapped you, too?" Sonic made a fist. "That son of a bitch… Urgh! I'm gonna give him a taste of my own medicine when I get out of here!"

"And to make matters worse, our _new_ communicators were taken away. I just spent the last two days building them! Now we can't contact Luigi, Mario, or anyone else!" Tails groaned.

"Speaking of the Mario Bros., I wonder where they are at this point," E. Gadd thought.

"I'm not comfortable with the fact that Edge or those ghosts could capture them as well. But I know Mario can handle tough situations. And Luigi has gotten through a lot to overcome anything that gets in his way."

"I just hope either one can help us out." Little did Tails or the others know that the older brother was helpless while the younger one was still helping out their friends, unaware of Edge's evil motives.

"Now that I answered your question, can you reciprocate by telling me how you fellas got here?"

Sonic and Tails explained their story to him about the ghosts ambushing them.

"How unfortunate. But I can't say I blame them because of how they're negatively influenced without the Dark Moon's presence. If only we could get that last fragment as soon as possible."

"And to get out of this dungeon," Sonic complained. _"I really hope Mario's okay,"_ he thought to himself.

* * *

Luigi filled in from the get-go of what transpired over the past week, as well as the mission he and his friends needed to accomplish. Vector understood as they entered the Ancient Exhibit.

"So you said you saw a vision of Shadow being in this room?"

"Mm-hmm. But last time I checked, this room wasn't filled with sand. Since it is, I have to activate those panels," he pointed at the two green circles, which pertained as eyes in the Egyptian-style statue they approached. "Stay alert. The sand will sink."

"I'm ready."

Luigi flashed the sensors for the sand to lower into the basement level. When they reached the bottom, there were four sarcophagi and a rock wall with a ball and chain attached to it.

"What now?"

"I have to tug on this chain. There's an E-Gate behind here that would take us to the lobby. But I have a good feeling we'll get some deadly visitors."

"What do you mean?"

"How good are you at fighting Mummies?"

"Um, never had any experience."

"Well now you're going to have some."

Luigi destroyed the wall to uncover the portal. And above it was Shadow's portrait. Then, the four coffins opened up, each with a Mummy walking out towards the trio.

"We need to guide them to the torches for their bandages fall off. They're basically Greenies in disguise, but we need to reveal their faces so I can suck them in the Poltergust."

"Gotcha. Let's get them!"

Luigi ran around the two Mummies on the left and flashed the Strobulb at them. As they were blinded, they ran towards his direction. He swiftly moved out of the way so they could run into the fire. Their wrappings fell apart, and two Greenies came into view. He struck both of them simultaneously and pulled them into the vacuum.

Meanwhile, Vector whipped his tail at one to whack one of them into the wall. He did the same thing to the last Mummy. Colombo went ahead to rip their disguises apart since they didn't move. Luigi took care of the unveiled Greenies to light up the room.

"Great job, you two."

"Thanks! You weren't half bad catching those ghosts."

"I appreciate it. Although sometimes they give me the creeps."

"What matters is that we got rid of them."

"You're right. Now let's release Shadow."

Vector climbed up to grab the painting off the wall. Luigi shined his Dark-Light Device to unleash the ebony hedgehog. He landed on his feet and dusted his shoulders.

"Hmm. Haven't seen you in a while," Shadow commented.

"Good to see you again, Shadow."

"Whatever. Now where am I, and what's going on?"

"You really know how to start a meetup, Shadow," Vector sardonically remarked.

"Oh, it's you, Vector. I see the green plumber has rescued you as well."

"And we still need to find Silver and my detective crew."

"By the way, where's that blue faker, along with your brother?"

"To be honest, Shadow, I have no clue. We split up to find your paintings. But when I tried calling them, none of them responded back."

"That does seem peculiar," he pondered, surprisingly without showing any sarcasm.

"I know that Mario, Sonic, and Tails were supposed to be in the Ice Age Exhibit to find Silver. But I have a hunch that something's gone wrong. So before we go find Espio or Charmy, I want to go check in that room."

"Fair enough," Vector said.

"Let's get going then," urged Shadow.

Luigi opened up the E-Gate and allowed the others to warp before following them.

* * *

The plumber opened the door to the freezing room. First, he entered the igloo to activate the E-Gate shortcut. He rejoined Shadow, Vector, and Colombo who were gazing at the contents the exhibit had to offer.

"Man, these rooms feel realistic in terms of temperature and layout. It does feel like we're stuck in an ice age or something," Vector shivered.

"A bit too cold for my taste, but I can handle anything," Shadow muttered.

The Polterpup was sniffing around the cave with the frozen wall. He barked at Luigi to gain his attention.

"Colombo? What's wrong?" He found the answer when he saw Silver's painting. "There's Silver. But, the others said they would bring his painting to the Terrace. Either they're somewhere else to find a way to get rid of it, decided to go find Espio like they mentioned before…"

"Or they could be seized by those ghosts," Vector concluded.

"Unless they decided to dawdle around and make you do all the work. If you ask me, that's lazy, even for your brother who's considered a hero in your world," Shadow shook his head.

"I'm not going to jump to conclusions that Mario and the others are being lazy. I just know that we need to melt the ice to reach Silver's painting. Even though they said would bring the paintings over to the Terrace, I'll just help him. First, I need to do some warping."

"What does warping have to do with thawing ice?"

"I can take a log from the Jungle Exhibit, head over to the Ancient Exhibit to set it on fire from a torch, then carry it to get rid of the barricade. It's just like rescuing one of the professor's Toad assistants who was stuck here the first time I ventured through this mansion."

"Wow, that some smarts right there. Even I wouldn't manage to think of that!" Vector complimented.

"I'll be back soon. Unless you want to come along in case some ghosts might ambush you."

"I'd rather isolate myself in here. But I'll keep an eye out for anything that might appear."

"I'll follow you, Luigi."

"Thanks, Vector."

* * *

After a few minutes of teleporting to the mentioned exhibits, Luigi returned to the igloo while carrying the burning wood. He let it settle near the ice wall as it melted away for him to enter. After disposing the log, he shined the ultraviolet light on the painting to free the silver hedgehog.

"Whoa…" Silver breathed as he landed on the floor. "Hey! Luigi, Vector, Shadow! You guys are alright!"

"Bark!"

"Oh, and you too, Colombo. Thanks for getting me out of the painting."

"No problem."

"So what's going on? I have a strong feeling I missed out on a lot of stuff." Luigi nodded and explained everything to him. "Shoot. That's a lot to process, but I understand. Now that I'm out, I'll assist you guys in finding the others!"

"Excellent! Now we have to find Espio and Charmy. Where did you remember finding them?" Vector asked the man in green.

He opened up his 3DS to navigate the map of Treacherous Mansion. "Their paintings are on the second floor of this mansion. Espio is in the Space Exhibit, which in the west wing. Charmy is in the Train Exhibit, in the east wing."

"By the way, where's Sonic and Tails? And your brother, too?"

"That's the thing, Silver. I have no clue. We actually split up with the three of them planning to take your portrait to the Terrace. But I haven't seen them since, nor did they manage to rescue you. And I tried calling them, yet they didn't answer."

"That's odd. I know for a fact Tails doesn't keep the person waiting on the other line for too long. He picks up his calls almost immediately when he gets one."

"He didn't pick up this one time when he got taken away by one of Edge's robots earlier. I'm afraid he either got kidnapped again, or something else bad. The same goes for Mario and Sonic."

"Don't worry, Luigi," Vector reassured. "I'm sure we'll find them soon. For now, let's save Espio and Charmy."

"And maybe we'll see that damn shadow so I can deal him an ass whooping," mumbled Shadow.

"Okay. Let's-a-go, everyone."

Before they could exit, another pack of ghosts invaded the exhibit. Shadow, Silver, Vector, and Colombo used their abilities to stun them so Luigi could pull them into the 6000. Once they cleared the room, they made their way to the Inner Courtyard.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Alright, a lot of things went down. So let's go over the facts._

 _Luigi and Colombo managed to rescue Vector, Shadow, and Silver, leaving just Espio and Charmy waiting to be freed. The real Sonic and Tails are held captive in the mansion's basement where the Dungeon Cells are located. Not only that, E. Gadd is stuck there, too. There's no sign of Mario, but he's in grave danger since he's taken from Slimmer and Clawdio, who were disguised as the Mobians with the help of Myster Edge. The Tough Possessor has yet to be found, but will appear in the next one._

 _Now that we've gotten through all that, Luigi and his rescued partners must save Espio and Charmy, then find Mario, Sonic, and Tails. However, Edge has something planned for the green hero, which involves his brother. How so? You'll see eventually._

 _Next time on Hidden Bravery, not everything is what it seems. Stay tuned to see what I mean. I'll try my best to continue writing once I return to college. If I need to delay the story, I'll put up a personal update to explain. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed this one. Be sure to review, follow/favorite, and keep your eyes out for Ch. 46! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Most of Luigi's actions throughout this chapter and from this point forward are repetitive to how he traversed in Mission E-2: 'Double Trouble' of the Treacherous Mansion in_ _Dark Moon_ _. Even though there are other ways to get through this (such as using his palms to carry the water and pour it on the plant), I'm making him do it the long and intended way like it's done in the game._

 ** _(2):_** _A small, fun thing to see is making Luigi stand under falling water. When he does, he'll act as if he was taking a shower, whistling and cleansing himself. Such a cool detail, in my opinion._

 ** _(3):_** _Due to the context of this flashback, I went back to Ch. 44 to edit this paragraph, where I originally wrote that 'he managed to send the Mobians…'._


	47. Ch 46: Tough Luck, Luigi

_A/N:_ _I hope you guys like the new cover art I edited in for this story. As for today, things take a turn for the gang. What exactly will happen to our heroes?_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't… Ah, you know the rest._

* * *

 **Chapter 46:** Tough Luck, Luigi

Body was tense. Muscles felt weak. A splitting headache hurt him so badly.

What made it worse was the fact that he could barely move, he couldn't open his eyes or blink, and he felt like he couldn't breathe. He was still alive. Nevertheless, he was stuck. Shaking his wrists and shins, he felt the cold, aluminum shackles that kept him restrained on whatever he was lying on.

He didn't know what was happening, or what time of day it was. The last thing he remembered was getting slammed by something, which was why he felt discomfort and wished it could subside. Even though the sensation kept vibrating in his head, there was one thing that overpowered it. Something that he was desperately worried about. Or rather, someone.

 _"Luigi…"_

He didn't have the willpower to see where he was. But it was definitely anywhere far from his brother.

 _"Please… be okay, Weege…"_

His mind immediately went back into unconsciousness.

* * *

Shadow, Vector, Silver, Colombo, and Luigi walked into the first-floor center of the Treacherous Mansion. Upon entering the dark, grassy courtyard, the staircase was missing. In the middle of the room, there was a fountain with a gargoyle statue holding a cage in each hand.

"This is definitely the same as the first mission. Only this time the fountain isn't invisible from a Boo."

"How does that fountain reach the top then?" Silver asked.

"There's supposed to be a staircase here instead. It should be hidden underneath this fountain."

"And how do we trigger the stairs to appear?" Vector rubbed his head, adjusting his headphones.

"We need some weight in the cages to reveal some green panels I can flash with my Strobulb. But because none of the Toad Assistants are with me, I can't shoot them inside."

"How about Shadow and I climb into them?"

"You expect me to stand in that?" the black-furred hedgehog questioned.

"Well, Luigi can't be in there, Vector's too big to fit, and I don't think Colombo is that heavy. No offense."

"Bark!" That was the Polterpup's way of saying 'None taken'.

" _Sigh_ , fine. But if either of you tries to lock me up like a canary, I'm not afraid to use my Chaos Spear move against you."

"Don't you need a Chaos Emerald for that though?" mentioned Vector.

"Then I suggest you sleep with one eye open tonight."

Luigi wanted none of that business, not like he was going to pull a prank on Shadow. After all, he had been through serious matters up to this point, and there was no point for fun and games. He waited for the hedgehogs to stand in the cages, pushing the gargoyle's arms down and unlatching the panels at the front of the fountain. He advised them to shield their eyes before flashing the light. Once the panels were activated, Shadow and Silver hopped out before the fountain started to move. Everyone backed away as the floor opened, and the staircase spiraled up to the second level. A mechanism with a makeshift rotor also appeared.

Vector whistled. "Nice job, guys! Now which way do we go?"

"I said I would rescue Charmy while the others find Espio. So let's head to the Train Exhibit in the East Corridor."

"I still don't think they're doing anything productive. They might as well be lost and unhelpful."

"Oh, don't talk like that, Shadow. Sonic, Tails, and Mario have to be out there doing their job. I'm sure of it."

Luigi wished he could agree with Silver's statement, but his mind was telling him otherwise. As his thoughts wandered, he blew on the rotor to swivel the stairs to the right. The five of them ascended and sauntered into the East Corridor.

"Where do we go from here?" the crocodile asked.

"The Train Exhibit is the farthest room here. The Study is in the middle, and the Nautical Exhibit is the last room to our right."

"Then let's head inside."

"Wait, Shadow! That's a-" Shadow opened the door, only for it to slam him into the wall. "-fake door…"

"Ugh, Chaos…" Silver and Vector pulled him up from the floor. "Wish I would've known that earlier," he shot a glare at the plumber.

"I'm sorry! I tried to stop you from getting hurt!"

"Ignore him, Luigi," Silver waved it off. "How do we really head inside?"

Luigi opened the room to the Study. "There's a yellow bookcase right here, and a door is concealed behind it. A book is missing here though."

"Don't tell me we came all this way to find a book," Shadow grumbled.

The man looked in the mirror on the far end of the room. In the reflection, he saw the book sitting on a small table. But it wasn't there in front of his eyes. He shined the Dark-Light Device on the table to reveal the object, while also capturing the Spirit Balls, which were paranormal bubbles that caused invisible illusions.

"Whoa, how did you find that?" Vector queried.

"Like I said, it's all too familiar to my first Dark Moon Quest in this area. It was secretly hidden, which typically happens from the work of the Boos. Surprisingly, I haven't ran into a single one in this mansion. I've only seen them back at the Haunted Shipwreck, but that's all."

He placed the yellow book back on the shelf. The first time around, it was pushed out by a Strong Poltergeist. The ghost took the book to the Space Exhibit as an attempt to draw him into a battle. Only this time, the large shelf moved under the floor to reveal the entrance to the Train Exhibit without any disturbance. **_(1)_** Inside this room, there was a rideable train on the tracks, some decorative pieces, and a miniature train display in the center.

"Hey, there's Charmy!" Vector pointed at the painting behind the display. He carefully climbed over it to grab it off the wall. "Alright, Luigi. You know what to do."

He nodded and shined the Dark Light to free the bee. When he was released, Charmy looked at his surroundings. The first thing he reacted to was the crocodile. He gave him a neck-choking hug.

"Vector! Oh my goodness, it's been so long! I thought you were dead!"

"Hey, calm down, Charmy. Don't be so overdramatic. I'm fine!"

"I'm glad you are! But, where's Espio? And Sonic? And everyone else?"

"We still have to save Espio, but we'll get him back soon," Silver reassured.

"And as for the others, I'll explain on the way," Luigi responded.

"Man, it's been almost forever since I've seen you guys. Especially you, Luigi! You aren't hurt from the bad guy, right?"

"No, not really," Luigi fibbed, knowing it'd probably be traumatic to explain the harm he experienced from Edge. Shadow was about to open his mouth before Silver hushed him. "Now that we're done here, let's head to the West Corridor."

Before they did, he remembered to activate the E-Gate in the Nautical Exhibit. He had a run-in with some Strong Slammers, Greenies, and Sneakers. But with a few Shriek Shields and help from his friends, he pulled it off with little difficulty.

* * *

A few minutes later, Luigi and the others entered the second-floor west side. Luigi took care of some Creepers that hid as goopy puddles from the ceiling and on the floor. After cleaning up the hall, he opened up the map on his 3DS to go over the layout.

"The Aviation Exhibit is down that way near the window, the Archives is in the middle, and the Space Exhibit is the last room over here."

"But I don't see a door there," Charmy scratched his helmet.

"You don't say?" Shadow replied sarcastically. "Maybe this time I won't get slammed."

"Is there a secret entrance somewhere like how we got into the Train Exhibit?" Silver wondered.

"What about this door out here?" Vector pointed in the southern direction.

"That door leads to the West Balcony. It's practically useless. And I bet the door is hidden, like the yellow book."

Luigi's theory was proven when he shined the Dark Light and sucked up the Spirit Balls to disclose the entryway. As they went inside, it felt like they were in space with the room being dark. But neither Colombo nor the Parascope of Luigi's 3DS detected any supernatural entities.

Charmy found something that made him yelp. "Espio!" He buzzed over the moon structure and to the painting of the purple chameleon. He embraced it for dear life, like a child's stuffed animal. "Oh my god! He's dead! Dead, I tell you! All from a painting!"

Vector rolled his eyes before he nudged the bee away. Luigi stepped forward and shined the rainbow light. Seconds later, Espio withdrew from the frame.

"Ooh… What the heck?"

"ESPIO!" Charmy screamed that made everyone cover their ears.

The chameleon became off guard from Charmy's bear hug. "Charmy? Vector?!" he noticed the crocodile.

"Long time no see, pal!" He gently pulled Charmy away to give him some breathing room.

"Shadow, Silver. You two are here as well."

The former crossed his arms and shrugged while Silver responded to him. "Great to see you again, Espio. And it's all thanks to Luigi."

Said man blushed when he turned to him. "Ah, yes. Thanks for getting me out of that, Luigi. It's been since the party when I last saw you."

"I know. And you're welcome, too." Luigi then took the next few minutes to brush up on what occurred over the past week.

Espio nodded and put a hand on his chin. "So the Oblivion is less than three days away from consuming everything? And Myster Edge would take control, huh? Well, he's certainly not getting away with this."

"At least we're all back together again!" Charmy cheered.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo back flipped.

Luigi opened up the rocket door and turned on the E-Gate shortcut.

"Is that where we need to go next?" Espio questioned.

"No, that's just to open up for convenience." Luigi exited the Space Exhibit with the others following him down the West Corridor. "We originally planned to split up and bring your paintings to the Terrace. But I think something dubious is going on."

"We?"

"Mario, Sonic, and Tails."

"Oh. It's also been long since I've seen either of them. Where are they?"

"That's the thing. They were supposed to rescue Silver and take his frame to the Terrace, followed by yours. But when I tried calling them earlier, none of them answered. And I was the one to go through some quests to free him and you."

"Really? That's weird."

"I thought that as well!" Silver exclaimed.

"Hey, guys. Hold up," Vector stopped the group before they went through the door to the Inner Courtyard. "Do you hear something?"

Everyone looked around and stayed quiet to listen. Luigi spoke up, "It sounds faint to me. But it doesn't sound like a ghost."

Shadow walked to the broken stained-glass window and peeked through the hole. "This is rather something."

"What is it?" Espio wondered.

"Come see for yourself."

They spied the outside where the Terrace was. However, what caught everyone's eyes fried their brains. In other words, made them completely puzzled.

"It's Sonic and Tai-!" Charmy's mouth was covered from Vector and Espio slapping their hands on him. They didn't want them to hear from the inside.

Luigi glowered at the scene. The blue hedgehog and the yellow vulpine were standing outside. But behind them, leaning against the crescent moon statue, were two paintings, featuring Espio and Silver. He also noticed that Mario wasn't with them.

"What the heck is going on?" Silver couldn't take his eyes off them.

"It's a ruse, that's what's going on," the plumber hissed.

Charmy threw the Chaotix's hands off his face. "A ruse? What are you talking about? It's Sonic and Tails!"

"But are Espio and Silver with _them_ or _us_?"

"And where's Mario?" Vector added.

"Well, maybe _they're_ playing tricks with us!" he accused a finger at the silver hedgehog and chameleon. "What if you rescued phonies instead of the real ones?"

"Then I wouldn't have choked from your hug," Espio thundered.

"I can easily bet that's not the real Sonic and Tails."

Vector grinned at the sound of money. "How much you wanna bet?"

Luigi stared at him, unamused. "Nice try. I have an idea on what to do. Follow me."

After a few minutes passed, the party reached the north balcony that led to the Terrace. They stood near the prototype Pixelator on the wall.

"What's the plan, Luigi?" Silver put a hand on his hip.

"I'm going to confront them. Just listen carefully, and when I give the signal, that's when you come out." He further explained in a group huddle. Once everyone understood, Luigi breathed in deeply before opening the door. When it creaked, Sonic and Tails turned around and smiled.

"Luigi!" Tails greeted first. "You finally made it here!"

Luigi kept his composure at the fake Tails. "Tails, Sonic. I see you found Espio and Silver's paintings. Good job."

"Thanks. Got 'em right here," he patted one of them. "Where are the others?"

"Oh, don't worry. I brought _all_ of them with me," he added a slight amount of emphasis, but luckily they didn't catch it. "They're just sitting on the balcony on the other side."

"Then why didn't you bring them out?" Tails wondered.

"I was going to. But first, can I ask you something?"

Sonic walked up until he was next to the fox. "What's up?"

"Where is Mario?"

The hedgehog's smile faded away and sighed heavily. Looking at the ground, he mumbled, "We're sorry, Luigi. But, he got taken away by the Tough Possessor when we weren't looking."

Luigi pretended to accept his response. He knew that it was far from the truth. That didn't mean he forgot about Tough though.

"Don't worry, Luigi," Tails reassured. "We'll find him soon once we get them out," he referred to the captives in the picture frames.

"I hope so." That reply was genuine. "Now for my second question, how long did it take to retrieve their portraits?"

Tails hesitated, giving Luigi another impression of their subterfuge. "Oh, um, you know, about an hour, maybe less than two."

"Really?"

"Sure did!" Sonic smirked.

Luigi was piqued by his cheerfulness, but he kept up with his act. "I see…"

"Is something wrong?"

"No, no," he shook his head. "I'm glad you were able to find them. I just hope the ghosts weren't a problem."

"We did have a few instances where some ghosts tried to attack us. But we took care of them."

"I'm surprised we didn't have that much trouble," Tails added.

"That's good. Speaking of surprises, I happen to discover something interesting on my hunt for 'your' friends."

"What is it?" they asked simultaneously.

Luigi creased his eyebrows down. "Come on out."

They were confused at his loud response, but the Terrace door opened, for Silver and Espio to walk out and stand beside the plumber. Following behind were Shadow, Vector, Charmy, and Colombo, who made themselves visible to the duo.

"Wait a minute! How did you manage to rescue them?" Sonic was baffled.

"That's all the proof I need to know."

Tails slapped his partner in the head. "Way to go, _Slimmer_ , you freaking idiot."

"Shut up, Clawdio. What gave it away?" he turned to the heroes.

"Isn't it obvious? You have sham paintings of me and Espio, trying to forge them as if you found them on your own," muttered Silver.

"They're nothing but props. They're fakes, just like you two," roasted Espio. "And we didn't need to divulge your true identities ourselves."

"Luigi had earlier suspicions about this, and now we know what you're up to!" Vector boomed.

"Shit… You would be smart to figure out Myster Edge's ploy," Tails, or rather Clawdio, muttered. He pressed a button on the wrist communicator and transformed back into the orange robot.

Slimmer did the same, reverting into a tall, chrome mech from his hedgehog disguise. "Okay, wise guy. Just because you exposed us, that doesn't mean you'll stop our boss from taking over the worlds!"

"You don't know what you're saying at this point," Shadow huffed. "Believe me or not, he's actually a formidable person, given how much torture he's dealt from that disappointment you call your boss."

Luigi was a bit shocked Shadow acclaimed him, something he doesn't particularly do to others. But it gave him more confidence in himself. "Now, where's Edge and the Tough Possessor?"

"Edge isn't here right now, but we might as well leave the latter to you weaklings," Clawdio snapped his fingers, causing the picture frames to dematerialize into ashes.

"Weaklings?! I'll show you who's weak!" Charmy threw a couple of air punches.

"Save them for Tough, you wacky stinger. Not like it will work."

Charmy grumbled. The rest of them got into fighting position. A few seconds later, they heard some metal clunking. Wondering where it was coming from, they soon found a suit of knight armor appear from behind the moon sculpture. He stood in between Edge's minions. It shined with a white and purple aura.

"It shouldn't be that hard to realize that Tough is here. In the meantime, I hope you meddlers have a happy haunting, a haunting that will spook you to death!"

"I told you _not_ to say that," Clawdio moaned.

"What? What's wrong with that?"

"Forget it! Tough, just take these people down! Slimmer, we need to get back to business!"

"What business?" Espio inquired.

"None of your own!"

"Just shut up and let's leave already!" Clawdio dragged his incompetent partner away and jumped off the Terrace.

"Are they going to survive from that?" Charmy thought.

"That doesn't matter. We have a ghost to capture," said Luigi determinedly.

"Ruff! Grr!" Colombo growled.

It was about that time for another 'knightmare'. **_(2)_**

The suit of armor pulled out a metal axe, pointing it directly at Luigi. He gulped a little but maintained his heavy stare. The Chaotix and the hedgehogs kept their cool without getting too tensed up.

With Tough possessing the knight, he ran up to Luigi and the gang and swayed the weapon horizontally. They all jumped back from the radius. Shadow sped around the enemy to distract him. Silver performed his telekinesis to prevent him from using the axe. Vector sidled behind to whip his tail at the knight's feet. Espio camouflaged himself to sneak an acrobatic attack with his Ninjutsu skills. After a few hits on the knight, he tried swinging his axe again. Luigi shot a Shriek Shield at Charmy so he could utilize his stinger to zap the tall figure without being hit.

When the Possessor was at bay, the other Chaotix members, Silver, and Shadow bumped and punched the suit to force him out. The Tough Possessor shook his head and scowled at the protagonists. The strong, white ghost featured four horns protruding from the sides with a fifth one sticking out above his eyes. Cracked lines emanated from his body as the Dark Moon piece dimly glowed inside.

"What's he doing?" Silver saw Tough charge up.

"Run and dodge!" Luigi ordered.

The guys either jumped, ducked, or ran off to the side as the ghost went straight at each of the heroes. Trails of electricity followed behind him and went off in different directions. Shadow barely evaded Tough as the latter ran into the wall. The black hedgehog did a homing attack but was disappointed that it didn't do anything.

Luigi took care of him by flashing the Strobulb. A green paranormal shield protected the boss. He waited until his Poltergust's power gauge turned green to shatter the barrier. Once it was gone, Luigi charged up the meter at full power to remove the first layer of skin.

Shadow crossed his arms, acting as if he wasn't impressed. "Whatever. I can still defeat him, with or without your help."

The plumber rolled his eyes at his egotism.

Meanwhile, Tough created a clone of himself, and repossessed the suit of armor. The second one took over another suit that was lying on the west portion of the Terrace, this one wielding a sharp sword. Espio, Charmy, and Vector focused on one knight with Colombo as backup. Luigi, Shadow, and Silver fought the other.

The Chaotix teamed up to combat against one of the Tough clones. The chameleon displayed his ninja expertise, the crocodile blew bubble gum orb breaths to cover the holes in the helmet, and the young bee dealt more hurtful stings against the armor, incapacitating some of the limbs. At the same time, the knight swung his axe vertically in the hopes of attacking a nearby victim.

"Watch out!" Charmy yelled at Colombo.

The axe was in range of the Polterpup, but he disappeared when it almost decapitated him. Even though he was a ghost, that would _seriously_ hurt. Because he avoided it though, he ran away from his initial spot to stand behind him. He lunged forward to knock him onto his stomach. The clone fell out of the knight.

"Excellent!" Vector shook a fist in triumph.

"Make sure he doesn't go back into the suit!" Espio called to his partners.

On the other end, Shadow slid on the stone surface, causing the second suit of armor to fall down. Silver levitated some rubble and shot them his way, creating a couple of dents. The Tough clone barely managed to stand up after the damage. Soon, he parried with his sword at Luigi. The man protected himself with another shield, falling back several feet from the impact.

"Luigi! You alright?" Silver dashed to him.

"Yeah. I'm unhurt," Luigi got up with his help.

"Get out of there, you pest!" Shadow performed a Spin Attack at the helmet, effectively causing the Possessor to exit the armor that time.

When both clones were knocked out, they merged together to reform into one.

"Uh oh! More of this!" groaned Vector.

After the charge, Tough zipped at Charmy, who flew upwards to avoid him. Then he went at Espio, who used his camouflage ability and sped away from his path. The ghost traveled back and forth at the others, but he missed every single target as they evaded him and the electrical streams. Ramming into the moon pedestal, Luigi dashed near him to stun him with the flashlight. As a blue shield appear, he charged one-third of the gauge and destroyed the paranormal safeguard. He went to full suction to scrape off the orange layer.

Tough shook it off and went to desperate measures. Instead of tripling himself, he quadrupled the duplicates.

Espio reappeared, his face full of astonishment. "Four ghosts?!"

Silver's eyes bulged wide. "Holy Chaos! I've never seen anything like that before!"

"This isn't new to me. Nonetheless, he's quite dangerous with four of them," Luigi mumbled.

"What did he do the first time?" Charmy asked.

"Oh, please. He's just gonna reclaim the suits again. We'll take them down in minutes, if not seconds," Shadow put in with confidence.

"It's more than just possessing suits of armor, Shadow."

The four Tough clones floated in the air, only to disappear from the outdoor balcony.

Charmy was bewildered. "Huh? They went away?"

"Wow, you're so observant," Vector satirically extolled.

Just then, they felt the Terrace, no, the whole mansion rumbling.

"What's going on?" Silver tried to keep his balance, spreading his arms out.

"Oh, crap…" Luigi whispered. Colombo let out a small whimper afterwards.

The sounds reverberated until _it_ came into view. A gargantuan knight with a massive scimitar rose up from the back of the mansion. Inside were the Tough Possessor clones. To wonder how or _where_ it's standing was mind-boggling, considering this building was built in the middle of a ravine. It's a miracle how it hasn't fallen into the gorge yet. But one easy move can not only eradicate the mansion, but also take the lives of the heroes, too. And the potential cause of it stood above all of them.

"Vector, I'm scared!" the bee hung onto the crocodile tightly. Vector tried pushing him away, but his grip was somehow strong.

"So, Shadow… You were right about repossessing a suit of armor. But do you think we're going to take down _this_ in minutes, if not seconds?"

"Shut the fuck up," he scowled at Silver.

"Luigi, what's the plan?" Espio turned to him.

He wasn't so sure. The first time he faced a gigantic knight, he manipulated him to stand on two separate carpets. He'd pull on one to make him lose his balance, then he'd tug on the other to make him slip from the ground. But that was in a mysterious region of King Boo's Illusion, where the place was stable. Here though, since the only thing the knight could crush with his feet was the Treacherous Mansion itself, there's a good chance, scratch that, a _certain_ probability it will crumble into the abyss, as well as everyone else.

Unlike the times he's faced the other Possessors in the past week, Luigi was at a loss on how to defeat this one. He couldn't give up though. But what can he do?

Suddenly, out of nowhere, an orb of dark magic whisked towards the monstrous armor. A shade of black and purple spewed on the helmet, blocking Tough's view. Then, two more aimed at the deltoids, disabling the shoulders. It somehow cut off the arms and debilitated the knight.

The seven stood in shock, wondering what was happening. The suit of armor started to break off, body part by body part. The legs, the anterior, everything went falling into the darkness below. Seconds later, the Tough clones angrily revealed themselves to amalgamate into his singular form. Luigi shot Shriek Shields at each of his friends, with the exception of Polterpup. For the third time, he charged his dash move and soared towards the heroes. Colombo became invisible, Charmy buzzed away, and the others leapt over the trails. Tough failed to hit any of them as he crashed into a wall.

"He's stunned! Finish him off, Luigi!" Vector shouted.

The man in green got his Strobulb at the ready and flared the white light at the boss. A red paranormal shield protected him. Luigi waited for the meter to fill up. He destroyed the barrier and charged up once more to suck up the Tough Possessor in the 6000. With the red-skinned ghost trapped, the vacuum shook before the celestial piece flew out of the nozzle. It landed squarely in front of the moon statue. Everyone stood around the collectible.

"Nicely done, everyone! Especially you, Luigi!" Silver congratulated.

"Got to admit, you were amazing with the fight," Espio praised.

"Yeah! It was so cool to get some action after being stuck for so long!" Charmy adulated.

"That's the ghost buster we know!" Vector slapped Luigi's back.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo barked with excitement.

"But that Edge guy isn't here, so call it a letdown for him being a coward," groused Shadow.

Luigi remained silent, staring at the fragment. The others noticed his face.

Silver waved his hand in front of his face. "Luigi?" He was unfazed, still engrossed at the object. "What's the matter?"

The plumber strolled up to the Dark Moon piece and picked it up. He rotated it in his hands. As he inspected the item, his face had a combination of confusion and disappointment.

"Luigi?"

"It's another scam."

They all blinked, excluding Shadow. "What?"

He turned to face the others. He narrowed his eyes. "This is _not_ the real Dark Moon piece."

"What are you talking about?"

Before he could respond, a bolt of lightning struck the Terrace in between Luigi and the rest of the gang. Everyone jumped back at the sudden occurrence.

The black hedgehog looked up in the sky. His teeth clenched at the sight. "You again!"

Myster Edge, with his magical staff, floated down near them. Colombo growled at the Shadow Spirit. The others glared at him as they stood up.

"Would you look at that… The man in green and his little ghost pup managed to save all five of you? That's not a surprise at all, considering he saved your other pathetic friends in the past."

"Okay, first of all, Mr. So-Called-Evil-Dude, our friends aren't pathetic!" Vector snarled.

"Except for Faker."

"Shadow…" Silver wanted him to stop.

"To add on to that, Luigi has shown why he's more powerful than you!"

Luigi thought to himself, knowing how much Vector was WRONG, with a capital 'W'. He knew he couldn't compare to the amount of power Edge has, especially when he's holding all seven Chaos Emeralds, _and_ created a set of black holes waiting to devour every single dimension in a few days. All he's done was capture ghosts, threw two unexpected tantrums, and chicken out whenever he felt scared. Then again, he wasn't giving himself much credit.

Edge snickered, amused at the crocodile. "You think this guy is more powerful than me? Do you need a scan to check the size of your brain?"

"No, because what I said is true!"

Edge disapprovingly shook his head. "Stop revering like he's a god. He may have saved you idiots, but what he didn't manage is to defeat the Tough Possessor."

"But we _did_ fight him! _And_ we beat him! Now he's got the last moon thingy!" Charmy pointed at the fragment in Luigi's hand.

"You ignorant, annoying insect… That Possessor you faced was a clone."

"So were the others one he created to possess those knights," Espio didn't get the logic.

"The _real_ Possessor is elsewhere, but I'm not going to let out that information. And that piece he held was a Dark Shard."

"Dark Shard?" Silver repeated.

"It's a copy of the Dark Moon pieces," Luigi explained, a death stare fixated at the hovering figure. "He produced tons of them to become stronger and combined them with the Chaos Emeralds to construct the Oblivion."

"Precisely. The glow on that shard is dimmer than the ones on the original pieces. But they look exactly the same, with the exception that the true piece is besmirched with sparks. You managed to recover the first five, but not the last one."

"Then, the sixth piece is still with the real Tough Possessor?" Charmy tilted his head.

"Exactly, Captain Obvious."

"Well no matter what, we'll take the real ghost down like we did with the false one!" Vector stated.

"Don't make me laugh again. This ungrateful Italian will have no chance of capturing him. He's still a lonely shell and a useless wimp, unlike his brother."

That boiled Luigi's heart, but he ignored the insult as he concentrated on something more important to him. "Speaking of Mario, where did you take him?!"

"Did you assume I kidnapped him again?"

"I'm not assuming. I'm _accusing_. What the _fuck_ did you do to him?!" Everyone, except Edge and Colombo, were staggered to hear the unusual ire in his voice.

"Easy now, Green Bean."

"Don't talk to me like that! The Sonic and Tails that traveled here with us were your robots, meaning you made them manipulate me so you can have him to yourself! And based off that, the real Sonic and Tails are also gone, most likely captured, too. So where are they?!"

"Fine. If you're so eager to know, I'll tell you. But only in private."

Edge shot an electric streak, except it streamed over to a button next to the door, which wasn't there the first time Luigi explored this place. When it was pressed, the Terrace shook again. No one knew what was going on, until the ground opened up.

"AAAHHHHH!" Silver, Shadow, Colombo, and the Chaotix screamed when they fell through a trapdoor. The only one who was unaffected was Luigi.

"NO!" He tried to dive in after them, but the floor sealed shut, leaving him alone with Edge.

"HAHAHAHA!"

Luigi growled as he faced him. "What did you do?!"

"Don't worry, Luigi. I sent your friends to another comfortable prison. They'll be joining that overconfident hedgehog and the nerdy kitsune."

He was livid at the purple shadow. "If Sonic and Tails are held against their wills, then where is my brother?"

"That's none of your business. But I can say he'll also be vital for you to join my side permanently."

"How?"

"You'll see eventually. But for now…"

Another beam of electricity shocked Luigi for the umpteenth time. He shrieked in pain, his blood coursing and heart rate increasing.

"YAAAAAH! S-S-STOOOOOP!"

"You wish I would listen to you. But you're under my control! And in the meantime, I have some unfinished business to take care of."

Luigi shook as the electricity still ran deep in his bones. He felt more pain, as if something was leaving his body. His excruciating cries muted the other sounds that surrounded him.

After a while, he could barely feel anything.

Then, he felt nothing. Nothing at all.

But later, he was insensible. He laid on his stomach, eyes closed. His body didn't respond after the torture he suffered. No small movements or twitches. Once again, the green hero was stuck in a state of silence and darkness.

"Just when you thought it was close to being over, all I can say is… _Tough luck, Luigi!_ "

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _The Tough Possessor has been defeat- Actually, no. I baited you. Based on the plot twist, yes, he is still out there somewhere, same goes for the Dark Moon piece. The one Luigi recovered was bogus, considering it didn't have the corrupted sparks, and it didn't shine brightly like the first five fragments. So… this boss fight was for **nothing**._

 _Not only that, the situation became inauspicious for Luigi as he's separated from Colombo and Sonic's friends whom he rescued. For Myster Edge, he (sort of) played our hero like a fiddle. Regardless, it was in his favor because he got what he wanted: torturing Luigi (once again), as well as something else. What is it, you ask? Well…_

 _Next time on Hidden Bravery, questions will be answered, and secrets will be revealed. More importantly, identities will be uncovered, and Luigi will be put into a position where he must prove himself that he can withstand the dangers ahead…_

 _With that being said, stay tuned for Ch. 47. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _This sequence of events took place in Mission E-3: 'A Train to Catch' of Dark Moon. Except in this case, Luigi did not face a Strong Poltergeist, and he rescued Charmy (and eventually Espio) with few impediments._

 ** _(2):_** _The boss level of Treacherous Mansion was named 'Stop the Knightmare', where the Tough Possessor made clones of himself to possess multiple suits of armor and attack Luigi. In this scene, it's the same battle, but rewritten to add the other characters into the action. Additionally, it wasn't against the real Possessor._


	48. Ch 47: Familiar Faces, Familiar Names

_A/N: #_ _FlyEaglesFly_

 _Anyways, there's going to be a lot of line breaks in this chapter as I'll be transitioning from one scene to another. Please bear with me that I'm going all over the place. However, this is a huge turning point as I'll be revealing the identities of the characters I've hinted in the past. This includes the villain's friend he wants to revive..._

 ** _*NOTE: I realized I made an error back in Ch. 29, and I added two key words in there. It does sound trivial, but it's for a small correction. You can go back and figure out what I changed in there to get a clue on how it ties into this segment. Otherwise, it is explained in the PCN._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: I own Mario and Sonic, and that's a complete lie._

* * *

 **Chapter 47:** Familiar Faces, Familiar Names

"WHOA!"

In the Dungeon Cells, Sonic, Tails, and Professor E. Gadd all heard muffled screams. Rotating their hands, they found the source when the walls opened up. Shadow, Silver, and Colombo fell into Sonic and Tails' prison. Charmy, Vector, and Espio landed in the professor's cell.

"Goodness gracious!" the elderly man shouted as he saw the Chaotix on the floor. "Are you gentlemen alright?"

"Hmph, depends on your definition of 'alright'. From our standpoint, it's terrible," Espio grunted.

"Ugh! Vector! Your tail is crushing me!" Charmy yelled.

"Don't blame me for falling on you! How was I supposed to know that was gonna happen?" he retorted.

"Well, that could've gotten worse," Silver pushed off the ground, barely getting up.

"Of course it got worse! That damn shadow guy still has the Chaos Emeralds, _and_ he duped us for a fake moon piece that I couldn't care less about! If you ask me, it was a waste of our time!" Shadow fumed.

"Chillax, Shads," Sonic pulled the ebony hedgehog while Tails took care of Silver. Colombo shook his body when he got out of the dogpile.

"I told you not to call me that," he brushed off his shoulders and glared at him.

"What the heck happened to you guys?" Tails asked.

"It's a long story," Silver replied. "Plus, we didn't expect to run into you guys, especially here no less. Wait, you are the real Sonic and Tails, right?"

"Uh... we should be. What are you talking about?"

"And did you happen to find Luigi or Mario anywhere?" the professor enquired after helping the Chaotix.

"You guys won't believe it! We were fighting these knights, especially this _huge_ one!" Charmy spread out his arms to emphasize. "Luigi took care of them, with our help, too!"

"But what happened to him?"

"And Mario?"

Colombo answered with a whine, making Tails and Sonic slightly concerned.

"It's bad. We didn't find Mario, and we were supporting Luigi to fight the Tough Possessor. However, we got tricked," Espio caught their attention.

"Tricked?" Sonic repeated through the hole in the wall that divided the cells.

"Looks like we have to explain everything," said Vector. "But quick disclaimer, it's serious business."

* * *

"Careful now," the character on the left told his partner.

"Don't worry, I got it," he replied, cautiously carrying a body.

"Just set him down here," their leader requested. Before they did, he removed the Poltergust from his back. He placed it beside the makeshift bed. Later, the woman approached her loved one. She soon saw the battered body.

"Oh, my... The poor thing."

"Now, now, dear. Let's not jump to conclusions. I'm sure he has a concussion, right?"

"Seems to be. We were able to use our limited magic you lent us to disable the giant knight that nearly terrorized him. **_(1)_** But we were too late to save him from Edge's torture while his friends got separated. We saw on him on the ground, passed out on the Terrace. I checked for a pulse, and thankfully there was one. It was slow, but present."

"Time's running out quickly though. It's already evening," the second minion stressed out.

The woman gazed at his broken appearance. Luigi was covered in burns and scars, his clothes were torn and scorched, and he was in another coma. There was a significant, black spot over his somewhat beating heart. It was very unfortunate to see how much he has suffered from the shadow's repetitive havoc.

"He's still got until Wednesday to fulfill the job though. I'm sure he'll come to sooner than later."

"But what if he doesn't wake up in time? What will become of him? What will happen to his friends and family? The end of all worlds may _truly_ occur!"

The tall male turned to the woman. "Listen real close here. He _will_ wake up. We will tell him what we know once he does. From there, he has to stop Edge. And I'm confident he'll handle the hardships."

"But what if he doesn't?"

"He _will_."

Tears started to form in the lady's eyes. "You did promise that everything will be fine. I'm not a pessimist, but the outlook seems bleak if he remains unconscious. We would fail him, the worlds, and ourselves."

Taking his lover by the hands, he interlocked fingers and stared deeply into her soft, watering eyes. He spoke sternly, but not in a rash manner. "Luigi is our only hope, yes. In fact, everyone's hope to stay alive. He'll need the help of his friends, but he also needs himself. Soon, he will have the necessary powers to overcome that bastard. However, it takes time, which is what he needs to recuperate. I promise, I'll do everything I can to help him. If there's anything to look forward to, it's Luigi. But we need to be patient."

The woman sighed, looking at the floor. She turned to Luigi a second time. "Then we have no choice. It's a waiting game from here on."

Her significant one calmly stroked her hair. "It'll all end soon."

"Hey, boss. We happened to find a key in his pocket. Do you think it has any significance?"

The man examined the key from his minion's hand. "That looks like a prison key. Hmm, I wonder… Duplimore, Duplicit. Take this key, and head to the Dungeon Cells in the basement."

"Why do you want us to go there?" Duplimore wondered.

"I have a good feeling Myster Edge imprisoned his friends down there. And this key might unlock the doors."

"If you say so," Duplicit shrugged.

"Oh, and before you do, I request a small favor." He whispered into Duplimore's ear.

"You got it, sir." The two assistants left the room, leaving the couple and the green plumber alone.

They turned back to the sleeping human. Watching anxiously, they held each other close, hoping for a miracle to occur as soon as possible. That miracle, was for the hero to wake up.

* * *

"You see, Luigi and Colombo first rescued me. Luigi told me that Mario and you two were going to find Silver around the time we freed Shadow," Vector explained.

"But we never went with them. Some ghosts kidnapped us and threw us here," told Tails.

"That's the thing! After Shadow joined the group, Luigi wanted us to go to the Ice Age Exhibit to find Silver. We saw his painting, but neither of you nor Mario was there."

"Luigi saved me and told me the gist," Silver entered the conversation. "As Vector said, the original plan was that Mario and you two were going to find my painting. But the Sonic and Tails that traveled with them were doppelgangers. Specifically, Edge's robots who transformed into you guys."

"We managed to save Charmy and Espio on the second floor. That was when we saw those duplicates out on the Terrace, with fake paintings of Silver and Espio."

"But why?" Sonic was bewildered.

"It was a fake out," Shadow muttered while leaning against the back wall. "The shadow's robots manipulated them as sabotage."

"Oh, come on, Shadow. You were a part of it, too," Charmy interrupted.

"Shut your trap, insect."

"Anyways," Silver continued, "they got away, but we all came across the Tough Possessor in a suit of armor. After the fight, we retrieved the last Dark Moon piece."

"But it was a complete phony," Espio reiterated their previous point. "We fought a fake ghost and got a counterfeit reward."

"Can't say I'm surprised," E. Gadd put a hand on his cheek, shaking his head. "Tough is known to make clones of himself. But I would've never thought he made a duplicate to actually fight you youngsters, all in the name of deception."

"To rub more salt into the wound, the shadow man came out of nowhere and sent all of us but Luigi down here," the crocodile added.

"What happened to Luigi?" Tails became more fearful than he was earlier.

"Who knows? Other than the fact that he got alienated from us, it's likely that he's in peril."

Sonic clenched his fists in anger. "Urgh... I'm getting so sick of that stupid, purple-faced jerk! If he does anything as bad or worse than the times he tortured Luigi, I'm gonna bury him into a grave and make him suffer through hell for all eternity!"

"Not like you have the strength to do that," huffed Shadow.

"I wasn't talking to you, idiot."

E. Gadd started pacing with dread. "Oh, boy... This has completely gone off the rails. And even though I'm an intelligent man, I can't figure out how to get out of here."

"I thought you were the one who owned all the mansions?" Charmy thought.

"Oh, heavens no. I only do research on the ghosts and the paranormal activities within the entire valley."

"Great. So we're basically stuck here until the Oblivion sucks us all up, huh?" Silver groaned.

"Not really."

The prisoners all turned their heads at the sudden voice. Everyone, excluding Shadow and Colombo, were astonished.

"Mario?! Luigi?!" Tails saw the brothers on the other side.

"Whew," Luigi sighed with relief. "I thought we lost them, Mario!"

"Don't worry, everyone. We're going to get you out of here."

"Grr... Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo showed his teeth at the Mario Bros.

"Easy, dude. It's just Mario and Luigi," Sonic spoke to the Polterpup.

"Hey, Luigi, what happened to the Poltergust 6000?" E. Gadd asked.

"Oh, um... Well, it's... somewhere else."

"Where?"

"Eh, I can't tell you right now."

"What do you mean?"

"Are you dolts going to stand there and play 'Twenty Questions', or are you going to help us escape?!" Shadow lost his patience.

"Sheesh, no need to sound hostile," Mario rolled his eyes. He pulled out a key from his pocket and unlocked both of the prisons.

"Yay! We're finally free!" Charmy flew with excitement.

"Don't get so hyped up. We need to find the real Dark Moon piece," reminded Espio.

"Before we do though, we need to take you guys somewhere," Luigi told the party.

"Where to?" Vector asked.

"Just follow us," Mario gestured.

Colombo continued to growl at the plumbers.

"I guess we should follow them," Sonic shrugged.

"How do you know we can trust them?" Shadow crossed his arms.

"At this point, I'm unsure. Based on Colombo's response, something seems off. But I don't have a clue, so I'm just gonna do the next best thing."

"By following two portly, mustached men who probably have no idea where the hell they're going?"

"We're just wasting more time standing around here. Let's leave already," he started walking away. Tails went after him, followed by E. Gadd, Silver, and the Chaotix.

Colombo and Shadow were the last two to leave. They both had their doubts on the situation.

* * *

"Ngh..."

While the woman was making a dish, she heard groaning from nearby. She paused her cooking and saw Luigi beginning to stir.

Gasping, she went back to finish the food quickly in hopes of restoring his health. She prepared a Fruity Shroom with a pitcher of Gradual Syrup. Placing the food on a tray, she carried it over to a small table beside the bed.

"Luigi... Luigi, are you awake?" she carefully shook his shoulder.

He moaned some more, indicating he still felt pain. But his head and hands started moving slightly.

"How is he?" the woman heard someone from behind.

"You may be right. He seems to be waking up, sooner than later."

"Talk about a lucky twist of fate."

"Ooh..." The green clad Italian barely opened his eyelids. The two spectators caught a glimpse of his blue pupils. Seconds later, Luigi blinked repeatedly. His vision was blurry as he saw a dark ceiling. Tilting his head, he didn't see anything on his right. But to his left, he found something.

He squinted his eyes as his sight slowly returned to normal. By the time it was lucid, he saw two figures staring at him. He examined them very closely.

Luigi first perceived a woman. The individual wore a stunning dress, similar to Princess Peach's with a few exceptions. For one, the outfit was white. Her long, puffy sleeves reached her upper arms, exposing part of her shoulders. The top of her dress had a collar in rainbow colors. The bands were also vibrant, wrapped over the elbows with another around the waist, similar to the dark pink band from Peach's old dress design. Around her neck was a gold choker with a ruby pendant. Her cheeks featured small blushes of light red makeup. She had gorgeous, hazel eyes to complement her soft facial expression. The woman had long, white hair with two small bangs hanging above them. Lastly, there was a large, rainbow pin in the shape of a butterfly attached to the back of her head. **_(2)_**

To her right was a tall human being. The man had a dark face with a sky-blue mouth and eyes, as well as a monocle concealing his left one. He wore a white top hat and a white cape that later faded to blue towards the bottom. He had gloves, but surprisingly no signs of any arms. He held a scepter where the tip was shaped like a diamond. A big, red brooch rested below his neckline.

Luigi blinked twice before getting up in a sitting position. Even with low stamina and strength, he managed to exert through the pain. He remained like that for a while, wondering who these people were.

Then, something clicked in his brain.

 _"Wait a minute..."_

The man looked _so_ familiar. He shared several physical traits to a certain someone. More specifically, a former, yet unorthodox, antagonist who was driven by desolation rather than power. Only his eyes and mouth were red instead of azure.

As for the woman, she seemed completely new to him. Then, he recognized the decoration on her hair. It was shaped like a butterfly Pixl. It reminded him of...

Hold on.

...

...

...

Okay, moving forward.

 _"No way... It... It couldn't be..."_ he thought with disbelief. He started shaking his head.

"Luigi?"

That voice. That feminine voice. So graceful, soft, and most of all, memorable. Although he didn't know her that much on a personal level, there was no doubt that she was the same being he met in a previous adventure. Except she wasn't a human.

And the man, it was clear who he was.

It all made sense to him now. But he still couldn't believe his eyes.

"L-Lady Timpani? Count B-Blumiere?"

* * *

 _"Ugh... What happened? Where am I?"_

He had a hard time opening his eyes after the hurtful sensation he had running in his head. Part of it was gone, but he still hurt like hell.

 _"Damn. Whatever hit me, that was a hard knock. Wait..."_ He soon remembered how Sonic and Tails, or whoever they were, made him unconscious back at the Ice Age Exhibit. Now, he found himself in some sort of eerie lab.

When he tried to rub his head, he couldn't. His arms were extended at the sides of his head. The wrists were trapped underneath a pair of metal fetters. Two more were over his legs. It was by then he realized he was restrained to a table. He also noticed several wires and sponge electrodes attached to his body from underneath his clothes.

 _"What the heck?"_

Before he could continue his thoughts, a door bashed open from behind. He couldn't tell who it was since he could barely move his head. But the deep voice gave it away.

"Ah, Mario. How is my patient doing on this fine evening?"

Said plumber glared at the Shadow Spirit when he was in view. "Edge."

"Is something the matter?" he sarcastically questioned.

"Don't play games with me. What did you do to Sonic and Tails?"

"What makes you think that I did something to your furry pals?"

"Because I remember I got hit in the head by them. But I know that wasn't the real Sonic and Tails."

" _Sigh_ , I guess I can't hide things forever. Yes, I sent my robots to disguise them as the hedgehog and the fox. Surprisingly, they executed my plan fairly well. And now, you're in my grasp once again."

"And let me guess, you're going to inflict the same kind of torture you dealt to my brother?"

"Oh, no... No, no, no... You see, it's much more entertaining to see your pathetic, green sibling to suffer through physical pain." Mario lowered his eyebrows at the monster. "As for you, this is much different than keeping you hostage in a prison cell. I have a completely different motive."

To say Mario was fearful was not true. However, he felt uncomfortable from the tone of his voice, indicating something twisted was about to happen.

* * *

"Pardon me for interrupting, but where exactly are you taking us?" E. Gadd was directly behind Mario and Luigi, who led the group into the Haunted Catacombs, located in the second sublevel of Treacherous Mansion.

"Just follow us this way," Mario waved his hand.

"Are you sure you know where we're going?" Espio became doubtful.

"Yeah. We're almost there," Luigi spoke.

"But where _are_ we going?" Sonic wanted an answer but got frustrated when there wasn't a response.

The silence lingered for another minute until they reached the deepest section of the Catacombs. From there, the Mario Bros. stopped at a stony, underground staircase.

"That's weird. I don't think you've ever told me about this being underground, Luigi," the professor put a hand on his chin.

"Oh. Um, maybe I did, maybe I didn't. Perhaps it was bad memory?"

"Eh, I guess. This youngster isn't getting younger at all, right?" he pointed at himself.

"But he's getting crazier by the second," Charmy whispered, then received a nudge from Vector.

Another minute elapsed as everyone descended into the dark depths of the chamber. By the time they got to the bottom, Mario and Luigi paused in front of a wooden door.

"Okay. So this door leads us to our boss' headquarters."

"And before you jump to conclusions, we don't work for Edge."

"Hold on... Did you say 'your boss' headquarters'? You mean, you're clones?!" Shadow grunted.

"Hey, calm down back there!"

The black hedgehog marched his way to the front and grabbed the green man by the collar of his shirt, pinning him to the wall. "Listen here, Faker! We had to deal with so many damn duplicates that I can't even fucking think straight! You're not the real Luigi, and he isn't the real Mario, but I demand answers! Who do you work for, where the hell did you take us, and why did you bring us here?!"

"Jeez, Shads, that's like the first time you mentioned their names even though they're shams."

"Would you butt out?"

"I'm just saying!" Sonic held his arms out like he was shrugging.

"Listen, we're sorry we lied to you. If you give us a second, we'll show our true selves. But you gotta believe my partner. We are _not_ on Edge's side."

"You know, I think they're being honest here. Let's give them some space," Tails suggested.

Shadow was ticked, but he let the Luigi clone loose. Everyone gave them a few seconds to recompose.

"Alright. Here's who we truly are."

Two puffs of smoke covered the brothers until they faded away. In their place, two small creatures with sheets stood in front of the party.

"AAHHH! GHOSTS!" Charmy squealed. He tried to hug Vector, but he planted his palm on the bee's face.

"Why, it's a pair of Duplighosts!" E. Gadd exclaimed.

"Duplighosts?" Tails and Sonic repeated.

"In a way, we're ghosts. But technically, you are correct," the former Mario clone said to Gadd. "We are Duplighosts. My name is Duplimore, and this is my partner, Duplicit." **_(3)_**

The other sheet creature nodded and continued their explanation. "We've been secretly following Luigi for progression purposes. We wanted to confirm that he was able to restore the Dark Moon pieces and have the ability to stop the Shadow Spirit."

"How do you even know all of this?" Silver asked.

"Our boss had a strong feeling that something dangerous was imminent. When he heard of news that a dark creature attacked Toad Town, on the night of Luigi's birthday, he took action. He hired us as spies to update the green man's progress. So in a way, Sonic and Tails," Duplimore eyed the Mobians, eliciting a surprised response, "we were following you and Mario on a few occasions."

"That's really odd, but I think it makes sense. Luigi did have suspicions that someone was following him. If it wasn't Edge, it must have been you two," Tails deduced.

"You're half-right. I was the one following. Duplicit manned the Treacherous Mansion searching for clues, ghosts, as well as the paintings of your now-rescued friends."

"Unfortunately, I couldn't do much but wait for his arrival since he was the only one able to free you," Duplicit reasoned. "However, I did uncover some terrible news, which I reported to our leader."

"Speaking of which, who is your boss?" Sonic inquired.

"We'll show you. Plus, we'll explain more when we head inside."

* * *

"B-But... How are you..." Luigi stammered as he hasn't fully grasped on what was in front of him.

"Luigi, it's been so long since we've last seen you," Timpani, once known as Tippi, spoke softly.

"I..."

Blumiere held out his vacant hand. "Before you say anything, please allow Timpani to offer you her cooking."

Timpani set the tray of food down in his lap. Luigi gave his thanks to her as he ate a piece of the Fruity Shroom.

"I also want to give my condolences to you." Luigi paused, confused at the Count. "First of all, I regret my previous decisions for brainwashing you as one of my former minions. It nearly costed your life, as well as millions upon millions who were as innocent as you. All because I lost hope of finding the woman of my life. It drove me insane. Thankfully, you, your brother, and many brave souls were able to tramp me to prevent the worlds from collapsing."

Luigi shuddered at that memory. From the time Nastasia put a spell on him to transform into Mr. L, to nearly ending off the heroes, and everything else that transpired before the two empowered their love to rid the Void and save all dimensions... It was something Luigi still felt guilty for since he was forced to fight Mario. But like his friends told him, it wasn't his fault. Yet, he internally took some of the blame.

"You're forgiven, Count Blumiere. I understood how tragic your past was. I'm more than happy that you're reunited with Timpani." Clearing his throat, he took a sip of the Gradual Syrup.

The top-hatted man gave a genuine smile. "Hmm... You know, that's one thing I admire about you. Your selflessness. Something I never possessed when I was in my evil phase."

"Nowadays, you're hardly egotistic. And I'm happy I chose the right man to be with until death do us part," Timpani gazed lovingly at him.

Blumiere gave a small peck on her cheek, to which she blushed.

"Ahem. Um, sorry to ruin your moment, but can I ask you something now?"

"Ah, yes. I almost forgot. Go ahead."

"Why are you two hiding here? In..." Luigi actually had no clue where they were.

"This is a secret underground lair of the Treacherous Mansion. It's just a hiding spot to stay on the low ever since we were supposedly 'deceased'," Timpani clarified.

"But more importantly, it was to hide in a place where we expected you to visit."

"Expected me to visit? What do you mean?"

* * *

"You better let me go right now, Edge," the red man demanded.

"And if I don't?"

"I swear to Grambi, I'll make sure you suffer the same way Luigi did from your tyranny."

The purple shadow snorted. "Like you could do that. And besides, you're currently in shackles, so what makes you think you can escape that easily?"

Mario was about to counter, but he was interrupted by two mechs entering the Underground Lab.

"Myster Edge! We brought the Tough Possessor with us!" Slimmer announced as the true, white ghost floated up to him.

"Welcome back, Tough. You did exceptional tricking that green idiot and his friends."

"Tricked? What are you talking about?"

"The boss ordered the ghost to duplicate himself and send the fake clone to fight your brother," Clawdio answered. "After he rescued the hedgehog's friends, they all fought him and succeeded. That didn't mean they truly won though."

"Exactly. With the real Tough Possessor with me, it's time to start the next part of my devious plan."

Tough glared at Mario, who mirrored his gaze, but towards the Shadow Spirit. However, he felt butterflies in his stomach. He was more uneasy than he was recently.

* * *

Before Blumiere or Timpani could respond to Luigi's question, the door opened to reveal some familiar faces.

"Bark! Bark!"

"Luigi!" Tails and Colombo zipped past the Duplighosts, delighted to see their friend alive.

Everyone else gathered around the bed. "Luigi! Great to see you after what happened!" Sonic smirked.

"Sonic? Tails? You're really here, right?" he asked for confirmation.

"Don't worry, lad. They're the real deal," E. Gadd reassured.

"I didn't anticipate you two to bring in that many guests," Blumiere told his helpers.

"Well, Edge did capture so many of them down there. At least we got everybody out from the key," Duplicit replied.

"You mean the key I found in the Dark Age Exhibit?" Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"I don't know. Probably."

"Who cares? We're just glad you're okay after Edge separated us!" said Vector.

"You're not hurt, are you?" Charmy asked.

"From what I see, you look a little banged up. But it seems like you pulled a fast recovery, which is good," Espio inspected.

"Much faster than the other times," Sonic added.

So many statements and questions came from his friends. But Luigi needed everyone to stop.

"Guys, wait. Who are you two?" he pointed at the Duplighosts. "And what's going on?"

"We'll tell you everything. But please, replenish yourself," Timpani referred to his food. He ate another piece of his Fruity Shroom.

"Luigi, this is Duplimore and Duplicit, our reliable servants who have been updating both your adventure and Edge's ploy."

"I have mainly been the one spying on you though," Duplimore told Luigi. "There were times I almost got caught. So if I made you suspicious, I apologize for that."

His eyes widened. "Wow. And all this time I thought I was going crazy."

"Not only that, but we had help from the Count to immobilize the suit of armor that could have killed you," murmured Duplicit.

"Oh, so it was you guys who helped us from the Terrace!" Silver understood.

"That's correct."

"It's too bad it transitioned into something negative. But I guess we appreciate your unpredictable assistance," Espio gave a nod.

"I'm glad that everyone seems to be okay now," Timpani felt grateful.

"But alas, we must address the elephant in the room," said the Count.

"I don't see an elephant," Charmy looked around the crowded room.

"It's a figure of speech," Shadow groaned at his innocence.

"What's wrong?" queried Tails.

"We didn't want this to happen, nor did we expect it in the first place. But, I had my suspicions since the attack at the Princess' castle," Blumiere shook his head.

"Expect what?" Luigi reiterated.

* * *

Clawdio closed a glass capsule with the Tough Possessor inside. He and Slimmer went over to the control panel, flipping switches, rotating a wheel mechanism, and pressing an array of buttons. The wires that were planted over Mario's body were attached to the container.

He struggled against the constraints. "Why are you hooking up Tough to me? What good would that do?"

Edge sinisterly grinned. "You know how the Possessors can take over things easily?"

"Yeah, so?"

"They usually take over nonliving things, with the exception of the Cheep Chomp your brother faced back in Vanilla Dome."

"And?"

"However, Possessors can't control human beings."

Mario started to realize what Edge was formulating. _"Oh no..."_

* * *

"Since the attack, we heard rumors that Edge was trying to steal the Chaos Emeralds from another world. I presume your animal friends are aware of this, correct?" Timpani asked them.

"Yeah, we knew that for a while," Sonic muttered.

"There was also speculation that he destroyed the Dark Moon, thus negatively influencing the ghosts who reside here."

"Indeed. Luigi has had his experience with that twice," E. Gadd reminisced.

"Because of this, we were terribly worried about the situation," Blumiere looked down.

"Is there something you know that we don't?" Vector wondered.

"Yes. There is," he admitted, as if he was shameful. "Other than Timpani, Luigi is the only one in the room who knows what happened back then. However, there is something extra I have to confess."

Everyone listened closely, especially the green-hatted plumber.

"I was the one who wielded the Dark Prognosticus, a gloomy book of prophecies that depicted nothing related to happiness. I followed a prophecy where I forced a marriage between the princess in pink and the ferocious king of Koopas."

"You're talking about Peach and Bowser, right?"

Blumiere nodded at Tails. "After the wedding, once they subjected to their vows, it created the Chaos Heart, the sole artifact that was responsible for the worlds to be destroyed. With the piece intact, it created the Void, an interdimensional hole that looms in the skies of all worlds until it encompasses everything. That would lead to the demise of those areas that were affected."

"Sounds like the Oblivion," Espio thought.

"That led to a quest where Mario, the man in red and the legendary protagonist as foretold in the Light Prognosticus, a book of prophecies to override the Dark, must collect the eight Pure Hearts with the support of three other heroes. The Purity Heart would be formed from these irreplaceable objects to counteract the Chaos Heart. And the heroes were the same two beings I forced to wed, plus the man in green himself. After they bested me, it all seemed to end."

Timpani placed a hand over the Count's heart. "But it didn't end there. From what it looked like, Blumiere was destined to die after his defeat. Yet the worlds were likely to be saved. That is, until..."

"Until what?" Silver asked for more.

Blumiere's right eye suddenly changed to a shade of red. "...Until _he_ interfered."

"Who?" Charmy was curious.

Luigi mumbled something. At the same time, his face was written with vexation as he aimlessly stared at the half-eaten dish.

Everyone turned to him, with Sonic asking the question. "What did you say?"

He stared up, maintaining his frown as he dared to repeat the name. Once he did, Timpani and Blumiere slightly flinched.

* * *

"I'm going to induce this experiment so that the ghost can take over your body. Afterwards, I'll be adding a few more enhancements to make you stronger. Yes, stronger to my benefit."

"Your benefit? If you think I'm going to be your slave, you better think twice on what you're doing!"

Edge shot a lightning orb at Mario. The plumber winced, refusing to let out a cry of pain. The attack charred his left cheek.

"Don't think that you're going to escape from this. You will work for me as an act of ransom."

"Ransom?"

"I'm proposing a threat to make you fight against your clumsy brother."

Mario's eyes enlarged with fury. "WHAT?!"

"It's simple. Since I've been harassing him, there was basically no way for him to surrender under my reign."

"So all that torture was some kind of game? A sick game just to make him suffer?!"

"As I said earlier, it's entertainment to me." Mario scowled at him again. "Because of this though, I'm giving him a choice under these circumstances. He either gives up easily and I spare your life, despite you being possessed. Or, he'll have to brawl you before he has a chance to fight me."

Mario growled through his teeth. "Why are you doing this to Luigi?"

"Because, other than you, he's the meddling fool who killed my friend. After several gruesome years, I vowed to revive him as my plot for revenge. And the end goal is for both of us to rule a new dimension after destroying the old ones!"

"I know Luigi to death. He's a hero. Sure, he has some flaws, and he's not entirely perfect. But he's still a hero, especially in my eyes. What he is _not_ , is a murderer."

"That's where you're wrong, Mustache. He dispatched my partner when he was close to ruling the universes. And your little brother had to ruin his would-to-be triumph."

"Who the hell are you talking about?"

It was clear that Mario wanted to know the truth. With a sadistic smile, Myster Edge leered at his glowering face.

"Does the name _'Dimentio'_ ring a bell?" **_(4)_**

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _'God damn it, TGN. Why are you stopping here?!' Let's have Myster Edge's last line linger there for a moment... There, that's why. Another cliffhanger moment. To be continued. Etc., etc._

 _Did you guess Blumiere and Timpani as the couple I featured in Ch. 38? Or the fact Edge's friend was Dimentio? If you didn't, I mentioned a small clue back in Ch. 29. See if you could find it there (now that I edited it). But if you guessed any or all of them correctly, congrats, here's a virtual cookie!_

 _We'll delve deeper into the backstory in Ch. 48._ _This will include the 'extra' secret that only Blumiere and Timpani know._ _Hit the follow/favorite button to get the notification when it comes up, and please review so I know what you think of these revelations! And with that, this is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1_** _) **:** This was the explanation for getting rid of the large knight near the end of Ch. 46. The fight wasn't going to matter since Luigi was facing a fake Possessor. _

**_(2):_** _At the end of Super Paper Mario, a silhouette of Timpani in her human form was shown after the credits. However, there was never a true depiction of her appearance. After searching on Google, I found a drawing from DeviantArt, which I thought was the best one. The original artist is Eniotna; I'm NOT the owner of this image. And that's where I got her physique for this story. (You can search for the picture to get a better idea of what she possibly looks like. __The hazel eyes are made up though since it was a Paper Timpani drawing with the typical black ones the other characters have.)_

 ** _(3):_** _I've introduced Duplimore and Duplicit way back in Ch. 18 and 23, respectively. However, I never explained who they were exactly. In short, they're Duplighosts, hence their names. The origin of these creatures debuted in the first Paper Mario._

 ** _(4):_** _All this time, I've been referring to Dimentio as Edge's dead partner. The error I made in Ch. 29 was when I described both of his eyes being yellow. However, Dimentio has different colored eyes: one yellow and one black. I added the latter detail to fix the mistake._


	49. Ch 48: The Void in His Heart

_A/N: __For those who don't know, I posted a new story named Revengeful Resistance, my first under the Sonic category. But since I uploaded it during a time when FFN was having issues with the reviews and the notifications, those who are following me might not know about this. In general, for those who are unaware, if you're willing to check it out, you can find the story on my profile. I appreciate anyone taking the time to read that, as well as this upcoming chapter._

 _Anyways, I re-edited the prologue and some of the previous chapters for slight reconstruction or to fix any errors. Now that you guys are aware of the mystery characters from the last one, it's time to reveal how Myster Edge is involved with Dimentio, what he did to Luigi, and a whole lot more..._

 ** _*NOTE: I added some extra context I forgot to include in the Doc Manager prior to uploading this chapter earlier. My bad!_**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: Mario and Sonic are respectively owned by Nintendo and Sega. I only take credit for the plot and my OCs._

* * *

 **Chapter 48:** The Void in His Heart

 _~Flashback to Super Paper Mario_

 _..._

 _Location: Castle Bleck Inner Sanctum_

 _"Count, look out!" Bleck's assistant cried as she blocked a magical sphere that aimed at the defeated man. She took the hit and went unconscious, falling to the floor alongside her red glasses._

 _"Na-Nastasia!" Bleck exclaimed._

 _"Silly assistant! Absorbing my attack to protect him? What an adorably hopeless gesture."_

 _The four heroes of the Light Prognosticus all looked up in awe as the magical jester entered the large chamber. He was in purple, yellow, and black clothing with a theater mask divided into light and dark halves. Tippi, flying near Count Bleck and the fallen Nastasia, was utterly shocked to see him again after he supposedly terminated his game with Luigi's._

 _"I was about to give him the everlasting peace he so desperately wants!" he stated as he floated above the Chaos Heart._

 _"Dimentio?! You're... alive?" questioned the butterfly Pixl._

* * *

"Dimentio?" almost everyone in the room repeated.

"Who the hell is he?" Shadow crossed his arms.

"A former minion of mine," said the Count, eyes planted towards him. "He was a formidable entity, no doubt. But at the end of the day, he is a lowlife traitor." He squeezed his scepter in irritation. Timpani rubbed his back to soothe him.

Luigi, meanwhile, thought back to the nightmares he had, specifically the one before his trip to Sparkling Waters and the time he was out for two days following the defeat of the Shrewd Possessor. He could picture the jester's disturbing sneer on his mask. He shuddered with fear as his nerves melted like gravy. From both of those dreams, it was Dimentio who haunted him in his nightmares. The one he had in the professor's bunker, however, featured someone else. **_(1)_**

"Where did this all start?" Espio asked.

Luigi began to elucidate. "Back when I was brainwashed the first time by Count Bleck's assistant, Nastasia, I became 'The Green Thunder'. But significantly, I was Mr. L."

Blumiere tipped his hat in disgrace, mentally apologizing to him.

"I was ordered to stop Mario from collecting the Pure Hearts. I used my mechanical abilities to build large robots, or Brobots, as my backup. I failed to succeed. Twice. The second time around, I was ashamed of myself. Dimentio soon appeared and implemented an act of betrayal. That led to him sending me to the Underwhere. Eventually, I reunited with Mario, only with a partially lost memory. I didn't think about the past too much, up until we encountered him again in the Count's castle...

"He tried to go against the Count since his original plan was to get rid of everything and let it stay like that. Just nothing but emptiness. We refused to join his side. Then, he dared to start a fight against me. Called my mustache a 'shag'. Because I was furious, I let Mario run ahead so he wouldn't be stalled by him. He was the main hero of the Light Prognosticus, and I rather let him not waste time. So, I fought Dimentio by myself. I did beat him, but then he played me under his sleeve."

"How'd he do that?" Tails furrowed his eyebrows.

"The same way he did when I was still Mr. L. He trapped me in a dimensional force field. There was no way to escape. He also concealed himself, like it was some kamikaze suicide attempt." He shuddered temporarily. "He exploded the box with both of us inside, thus separating me from Mario again. Eventually, the princess found me out cold in a random, dark room. She was with Bowser after being lost from fighting some of the Count's minions."

"Mimi and O'Chunks..." Blumiere whispered. "Despite the trouble I've caused, they were still loyal to me. I could depend on them any time, any day. As well as Nastasia. I wonder if they're still alive... My apologies for interposing."

"No, it's okay, Count. They were all fine the last time we saw them. Anyways, according to the Dark Prognosticus, there was a major element to determine if the end of all worlds would come true. I've already explained this to Sonic, Tails, E. Gadd, and Colombo. But I can suppose you can explain the rest to the others."

Blumiere solemnly closed his eyes for a moment as everybody turned to him. "Though the man in red shall wield formidable powers, one shall stand against him. The man in green shall use the Chaos Heart's power to bring darkness to all."

"Okay, I'm not one who understands prophecy lore, but were you referring to Mario and Luigi?" Vector scratched his ear.

"Precisely. That is a direct quote from the book. It inferred that Luigi was the determining factor for the Chaos Heart to officially set the dimensions up for total destruction."

"The Light Prognosticus, however, considered him as the fourth and final hero to counteract the dark prophecy," Timpani recalled. "Thankfully, it worked out in the end despite some harsh setbacks."

"But what does this have to do with this Dimentio guy?" asked Silver.

The white-haired woman looked at the plumber. "Luigi?"

"Yes, I can continue."

* * *

 _He turned towards the quartet on the other side of the gray artifact. "Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha. Of course. This is my moment. Even if the count dies, the Chaos Heart won't disappear if I continue to control it! But I needed the power of the Pure Hearts to beat him... I couldn't do that on my own. So I had you do all of the sweaty labor for me. And you even used your Pure Hearts to defeat Count Bleck! If they make greeting cards to thank people for helping with evil plans, I owe you one."_

 _"What are you saying?!" Tippi wanted further elaboration._

 _Dimentio continued to talk, but he specifically stared at the green man with a hint of amusement on his mask-like face. "I'm saying that you no longer have value to me, so I'm ending your games. They're all yours, Mr. L!"_

 ** _"Mr. L?"_** _Mario thought with confusion. **"So, he's here. But where?"**_

 _With a snap of Dimentio's fingers, no one in the room projected what happened next. Luigi reacted to the gesture and walked in front of the heroes. Peach, Bowser, Tippi, Count Bleck, and Mario all stared at him._

 ** _"Luigi?"_** _The older bro didn't understand._

 _Suddenly, his brother slightly jumped as his arms flailed rapidly. His face became extremely worried._

 _"Huh?! Uh... oh. AAAAAACK! Why am I flapping my arms! Oh, this... This isn't good!"_

 ** _"What isn't good?"_**

 _Dimentio snapped a second time, maintaining his eerie smile. By then, a glow of rainbow light shined above his hat. It revealed a green sprout with two leaves protruding to the sides. Bowser and Peach's eyes widened while Mario jumped in surprise._

 _Luigi soon shouted with a voice of authority, but it was also full of fear. "I AM MR. L! Master Dimentio... What is your bidding?"_

 ** _"The Floro Sprout..."_** _Mario remembered seeing the plant on the kidnapped Cragnons who lingered in the Floro Caverns. It was used to brainwash them. And now that he saw it on **Luigi's** head... Oh no..._

 _Peach was the next to speak. "When... did this happen?!"_

 _"When I sent Luigi here, I planted a seed in the fertile soil of his unconscious. And now that seed has sprouted spectacularly!" He immediately took control of the powerful tool. "Mr. L... Run along now and get ready for your big entrance."_

 _The possessed Luigi nodded with a little hesitation but nonetheless strolled past Tippi, Count Bleck, and Nastasia. Mario and Peach were screaming in their minds to beg him to snap out of his trance while Bowser continued to watch._

 _"Now... Ladies and gentlemen... Get ready for the greatest magic show you'll ever see!"_

 _The jester lobbed the Chaos Heart above him. A wave of light brightened the room before a Void-like hole appeared. Luigi jumped inside as it swallowed him and the heart together. Seconds later, the sanctum and the entire castle shook violently. Dimentio's creation soon came to life. And no, it wasn't Frankenstein._

 _Everyone witnessed a humongous figure pop out. With a white collar, motifs similar to Dimentio's clothing, Luigi's boots, gloves, hat, and even his head, the beast came into view. It was known as Super Dimentio._

 _"GREEEEEEN!" the head boomed. It even sounded like Luigi, only a bit distorted._

 _"LUIGI?!" Bowser identified his actual name. He had never expected this monster to be massive. I mean, sure, he's had his fair share of being colossal in general, but nothing compared to **this**._

 _"The Dark Prognosticus says he's the ideal host for the power of the Chaos Heart. And now I'm going to add my own power to this spicy little concoction."_

 _"No... Stop!" Blumiere demanded in his weak state. But he was powerless at the time. Soon, he, Nastasia, and Tippi were sent away by Dimentio's magic._

 _"Count Bleck! You looked so tattered and pathetic, I nearly forgot about you. I'll squeeze the life out of you later. Just wait over in that dimension, OK? Great."_

 _The jester floated over to the giant and entered the head through its open mouth. After a flash of light, Super Dimentio smirked._

 _"Now the Chaos Heart is mine!" he boasted. "I will use this to destroy all worlds... and create perfect new ones! So, shall we get started? Now I have all I need... to become the king of all worlds!"_

 _Mario didn't show it, but he was enraged by all this. Despite the Count's selfish actions to get rid of the worlds as punishment for taking Timpani away from him, he managed to apologize and accept his fate. After all the heartbreak and torment, he finally reunited with her. But now that Dimentio betrayed him **and** used his brother for his own self-seeking purposes, Mario had enough. He, the other heroes, and their Pixl allies needed to stop Dimentio and save Luigi, as well as the worlds._

 _~End of flashback_

* * *

"Eventually, Timpani returned to Mario with the power of the revitalized Pure Hearts to abolish Dimentio's invincibility and officially beat him. Dimentio, however, played one last trick as a last-second attempt." Luigi looked at Blumiere and Timpani to back him up.

"I recall Luigi being released when Super Dimentio's head exploded. It technically wasn't the end of him or the Chaos Heart at the time," Timpani explained.

Count Blumiere lowered his top hat. "My initial thought was that the heart would disintegrate as soon as the individual who controlled it lost his game. Similar to my fate, he was hanging by a thread. As his last bailing attempt, what he did was leave a shadow of his power behind to prevent it from disappearing. I knew there was only one option to prevent from Chaos ensuing. Timpani and I rushed to the altar, the place where I commenced the forced wedding that started all that madness. We used our love for each other and the Pure Hearts to truly banish the Chaos Heart, though our connection to it would cause a possibility for us cease to exist."

"We managed to finish the job. The Chaos Heart was gone, the Void was no more, and we vanquished to a faraway place. Thanks to fate, we're still alive to this day. But what mattered the most to me was to be with the one I cared." The woman got up on heels and pecked a kiss on his cheek.

A fair amount of the heroes was moved by the story. Charmy was disgusted by the kiss while Shadow remained silent, leaning against the wall.

"So that's the backstory on Dimentio," mumbled Espio.

"I'm happy you two remained together," commended Tails.

"And if you and your helpers didn't find Luigi or us, we probably would've fallen into the hands of Myster Edge," E. Gadd showed his appreciation.

"Don't celebrate too early. We only have until Wednesday morning to find Edge and beat that guy," reminded Sonic.

"I can only wonder if the black hole is larger than it was earlier," Silver pondered.

"Now that we've explained the past, are there any more questions?"

"I think we're good."

"No," Luigi negated Vector's statement. "I have some more."

"Ugh, this is _not_ the time to just laze around and let that asshole get closer to obliterating everything," Shadow groaned.

"Hold your horses, Shadow." Said hedgehog glared at Sonic. "Hey, at least I didn't call you by the nickname you hate!"

"Go ahead, Luigi," Timpani pressed forward.

"My first question. Blumiere, you told us there was something extra you needed to confess. I know it's not about the Void, the Chaos Heart, nor Dimentio. What's the secret?"

The Count blinked before he closed his eyes. He gripped his scepter tightly.

"Blumiere?"

"You're somewhat wrong. The secret sort of relates to Dimentio. But it's more about Edge."

"Well, he and Dimentio are apparently friends based on the context," Vector stated.

"True, but there's more to it."

"What is it?" Luigi stared him.

He took a deep breath as Timpani eyed him with worry. He hesitated to say the words. "Myster Edge... He is..."

The green man raised an eyebrow. Duplicit nudged the Count to let it out.

"He is my younger brother." **_(2)_**

* * *

Sapphire eyes were as wide as dinner plates. He never thought he would hear the name again. How long has it been since _he_ was relevant? Several years from what he remembered. But when it popped out of Edge's mouth, he twitched his mouth, unable to form words.

"D-Dimentio?!"

"Now you get the picture, tubby."

 _"So Luigi's dream... It's really true..."_ Mario remembered what Luigi said about his nightmares. Although there were some variations to them, it was no doubt that one of the individuals that haunted him was the devious jester.

"And not only that, I managed to steal something from him. This piece is the one to bring him back to life. However, I'll execute it in a different location at the most opportune moment."

"What did you steal?"

"Shouldn't it be obvious? You know, the one thing that nearly caused all worlds to fall in the first place?"

A light bulb lit up in Mario's brain. "The Chaos Heart?!"

Edge sneered. "Exactly."

"I can't believe you!"

He waved his staff to bring the object into view.

"Believe me now?"

"B-But how?!"

"I stole the Chaos Heart from inside Luigi's body. And with it in my hands, I can use the powers of the Chaos Emeralds and the energy from the Dark Shards I created to revive him! Then, we will destroy everything with the Oblivion, and we'll build a brand-new empire to our liking! Dimentio and I will forever be the most powerful beings of the entire universe!"

Mario was furious to hear about the shadow's plan. But, there was something foggy about all this.

"Wait a second. The Chaos Heart was supposed to be banished by Lady Timpani and Count Blumiere. That happened years ago. How did it even get into Luigi's body in the first place?"

Edge snickered. "That, my friend, is true. The _real_ Chaos Heart is gone. But the _duplicate_ isn't."

"Duplicate?" The red man didn't apprehend.

* * *

"Myster Edge is your brother?!" Sonic sputtered.

"No way... I would've never guessed," Tails was in awe.

Everyone else remained silent at this revelation. Luigi leaned his head forward by an inch, indicating the Count to explain.

"Albeit he looks nothing like me or my late father," he cringed when he spoke about the latter who once ruined his life, "he was still part of my family tree, and therefore, a member of the Tribe of Darkness...

"He was never part of my plan to destroy the universes when I lost Timpani. He just hid from the sidelines. You never saw him because he didn't agree with my reason for obliteration. All he ever desired was power. It got me thinking, why would he stoop so low against me? It's for the same purpose: selfishness...

"I was selfish to get rid of everything because my heart ached. But Edge was selfish because he was more obsessed with control. It seemed apparent that he formed a secret alliance with Dimentio. That plan was, Dimentio would overtake the Chaos Heart that I held. If his plan was successful, the legendary heroes would perish with everything else, besides him, Luigi brainwashed as Mr. L, the Chaos Heart, and even Myster Edge. But since he failed, there was a Plan B."

"Plan B?" Silver raised an eyebrow.

"Like we said before, Dimentio left behind a shadow of him controlling the Chaos Heart, meaning that it was still immaculate. That led to some downsides. One of which was already explained."

"You and Lady Timpani were gone by banishing it," Espio answered.

"Yes. But there was another consequence. And it had to involve you," he turned to the man in green.

"M-Me?"

"What does he have to do with all this?" asked Vector.

"We were afraid this would happen," Timpani shut her eyes with sorrow.

Blumiere lowered his hat again. "Not only did Dimentio leave his powers behind, but before the exact moment you were released from the Super Dimentio figure, he managed to replicate the Chaos Heart and merge it into your body."

Nothing was immediately said after that.

* * *

"After Dimentio 'succumbed' to your _victory_ ," Edge emphasized with disgust, "he continued to influence the Chaos Heart from his mastery. You remember something along those lines, correct?"

Mario didn't answer, but he also didn't want to admit he was right. He clearly memorized what Count Bleck said after Luigi was released from Super Dimentio's spirit.

"Well, he created another version of it. I waited for years for it to mature. And on the night of his birthday, when I crashed the party, I made it even worse so I could take it for myself! That way, I will continue Dimentio's plan of destroying everything and build a new empire for the both of us!"

Mario wished he could break the shackles so he could pelt him with fireballs.

"Myster Edge!" Slimmer shouted. "All power levels are at the max! The merging process is set!"

"We're ready when you are!" Clawdio had his hand on the lever, waiting for a signal.

"Heh, excellent. Alright, Mario. Just in case you don't go back to normal, or if your brother ends up killing you for the last Dark Moon piece, do you want to say any final words?"

To think, Luigi was being forced to fight against his own family to save the Evershade ghosts. Mario couldn't escape from Edge's cruel scheme. And if he ends up getting hurt by him, it had to be for the best. But the thought of hurting the one who had the same bloodline as him...

No. Mario was against his will, the same way Luigi was when he was forced to follow Dimentio's commands.

It's an eye for an eye as they call it. Or a tamer version of it.

He had to hurt his younger bro when he transformed into Super Dimentio. And now, it was a role reversal. To save the worlds, one major step Luigi must do is to hurt him. Killing him, it sounds farfetched, but not ruled an impossibility. The last thing he wanted was the universe to fall under Edge's supremacy, not after all the bad things he did to Luigi. If it does mean to keep everyone alive and safe, it was a risk he'll have to suffer.

Mario shut his eyes, tilting his head away from Edge to conceal his facial expressions.

 _"Don't let me down, Weege. And... I'm sorry."_

"Well?"

Five seconds of silence.

"Luigi's still not a killer. But I sure hope he whoops your ass."

"Hmph," was all Edge let out. He turned to his robots. After a head nod from the shadow, Clawdio pulled the lever. With the wires on, a current flowed to the capsule, becoming activated as the Tough Possessor simply stayed put. It soon spread to the many wires on Mario's body.

Besides the buzzing electricity, the only noise that was heard was the red plumber howling in pain.

* * *

"Luigi?" Duplimore walked up to him and shook his arm. Everyone turned to him to see his face. With a mix of amazement, confusion, fear, and anger, his mouth was agape.

"Hey, dude. Snap out of it!" Duplicit got him out of his daze.

The Italian shook his head before he stared down. Timpani looked at him, full of remorse. Blumiere still had his hat covering his eyes. Luigi was entranced by the dark spot that singed his clothing, directly over his heart. It was covered with some gauze. He had a good feeling of how he received it. He remembered the burning sensation he felt when Edge attacked him on the Terrace. If his intuition was correct, the Shadow Spirit managed to take out the Chaos Heart copy from his body.

"But why did Dimentio create an imitation of it anyway?" E. Gadd pondered while scratching his chin.

"That was part of Plan B. Edge was waiting for the right moment to avenge Dimentio if he failed against the heroes. There was a follow-up procedure."

"Follow-up procedure?" Charmy repeated.

Timpani spoke up to elaborate. "Everything seemed to be back to normal in Flipside, the Mushroom Kingdom, and all other dimensions. The Chaos Heart in Luigi's own heart was artificial at the moment when he was gone. But as the years went by, it quietly grew with power, influenced by some of Dimentio's magic...

"Edge needed to fulfill Dimentio's last request. The way to avenge and revive him was to remove the replica from Luigi. To do this though, he needed the combined powers of the seven Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards. Alternatively, he could've kept the original Dark Moon pieces to his own benefit, but he went with the alternative so he could leave them off for the Possessors. Thus, he generated thousands of shards to create an equivalent source to the Dark Moon's energy. And the Possessors would be powered up to attack Luigi in hopes of defeating him."

"Hang on," Shadow interjected. "Eggman said he was in our dimension to steal the Chaos Emeralds. But he's originally from this world if he happens to be your sibling."

Silver seemed to comprehend his point. "That's right. He did mention that. How did he know about the Chaos Emeralds, and how did he manage to transport from the Mushroom Kingdom to Mobius? He couldn't have used the warp pipe in front of Peach's castle."

"And how did Edge know that they were useful to remove the artificial heart?" Espio further asked.

"That information was likely told by Dimentio on how to achieve their backup plan. It's almost like a continuation of the dark prophecy. Edge must have been in hiding throughout the last several years as the Chaos Heart copy slowly grew. How he managed to warp to your planet, however, is a mystery," Timpani shrugged.

"Well despite that, I have a second question. Sonic, Tails, Mario, and I were discussing about this for numerous times. What's the relationship between the Chaos Emeralds, the Dark Moon pieces, the Chaos Heart, and myself? The first of those are not even part of our dimension; they're from Sonic's."

"Not only that, but the Chaos Emeralds seem to help heal Luigi from any casualties he suffered," Sonic added.

"In retrospect," Duplimore hopped in, "the Dark Moon fragments have some linkage to heal your injuries. The same goes for the Emeralds, except they're one of the factors that caused the Chaos Heart copy to become stronger. It's technically a win-lose situation. Your health recovers quickly, but the hazardous effects increase with the Chaos Heart inside you."

Tails' eyes widened when he realized something. "Wait a minute. On the day Luigi beat the Grouchy Possessor, he was wounded by Edge. And during that night, the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Moon pieces we've collected were taken from us and were found on Luigi's bed the next morning. So that means-"

The Duplighost nodded. "I snuck into the mansion to take your Emeralds and infiltrated the professor's basement to grab the moon pieces. From there, I healed Luigi and concurrently made him more vulnerable than before. To that, I apologize." **_(3)_**

"Criminy! Now it makes sense!" E. Gadd exclaimed.

"Doesn't add up to me," Charmy whined.

"Chaos Emeralds. Chaos Heart. It's sounds so coincidental that they're somewhat related by just a similar word they have," Sonic thought.

"And of course, it has to be 'Chaos' out of everything," Silver rolled his eyes.

"Coincidental, indeed. As Duplimore stated, they're the reason why the Chaos Heart copy became stronger. It needed time to evolve until it was virtually as robust as the original. Once it's complete, all Edge had to do was remove it from the inside of his heart. The torture he suffered from was only for pleasure. But the reason he did it was to cast a spell on him to accelerate the recovery process."

"You mean on the night when he attacked the castle, when he sent me into a coma, he placed the curse in my body for the Chaos Heart to be reborn by the Emeralds and the Dark Shards?"

Blumiere lifted the brim, having the courage to face Luigi again. "I'm afraid so."

Luigi stared at his lap, concealing his facial expressions. He was upset and livid at Edge, more so than any of the other times in the past. Colombo nudged his owner with his head in an attempt to soothe him. To the Polterpup's discontent, Luigi was unmoved. His hands felt tingly.

"I still can't believe he's related to you," Shadow mumbled, shaking his head.

"None of us could believe it," corrected Vector.

"Family relations is the least of our problems. It's Edge who we need to worry about most," Espio reminded them.

"And for that reason, Blumiere is willing to help you fight him," said Timpani.

"How?" Luigi questioned with a monotone voice. "With the seven Chaos Emeralds, he's as superior as Super Sonic or even more. No offense." Sonic shook it off. "Besides, what good can I be if I can only capture ghosts and ruin everything from more than one stupid thing?"

"Luigi, don't talk like that. You've done so much over the last week. What would Mario say to you if he heard you speaking like this again?" Tails told him.

"My point exactly. I let him get kidnapped by Edge again. I knew I shouldn't have listened to those clones!"

"But you didn't know they weren't us."

"I still had my suspicions, and it proved to bite me in the butt. I'm putting everyone and everything in danger to this day. And if I can't stop him, I honestly doubt any of you will. It'll be my entire fault for letting the worlds die."

"At least you admit fault to it," Shadow mumbled. Sonic bumped his elbow into him. He earned a glare, to which he mirrored the look.

"Luigi."

He shifted to the lady. Timpani's brown eyes were telling, no, _begging_ him to stop berating himself. She knew that he's better than how he was acting right now.

"In the limited time I spent with you since you reunited with Mario from the Underwhere, I've seen you done amazing things. Your jumping skills and will to support your older brother are admirable. Even when we fought against you as Mr. L, you've shown a side of yourself that's hidden from your main identity. And I'm not talking about your overconfidence. You've expressed bravery."

This wasn't the first time Luigi has been told he had this trait of 'hidden bravery', nor the first time anyone has thought about it.

"But you can't keep degrading your morality," she sternly spoke. "You have to prove you can overcome Myster Edge and his powers."

"How so?"

"Let me handle this," Blumiere held a hand to Timpani. "Luigi, have you ever had a feeling of electricity recently?"

He peered at his clenched hands. "I'm feeling it right now, actually."

"Hmm... So the powers _have_ been fused in."

"Powers?"

"You _are_ the master of the Thunderhand technique, am I correct?"

Luigi stared with large eyes. "How do you know about the Thunderhand?"

"Why do you think you call yourself 'The Green Thunder' when you were my slave?"

"I... I didn't call myself that on purpose!"

"Don't worry, Luigi," Timpani reassured. "But in regard to your technique, the Thunderhand is the main tool you need to conquer Edge with the energy of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards. Not even your vacuum is sufficient enough due to the fact he isn't a ghost." **_(4)_**

"Hold on. I remember seeing Luigi with thunder powers twice. The first instance was in Sparkling Waters, and the other time in Chemical Plant. You remember that as well, right, Tails?" Sonic asked.

His blue eyes sparkled with realization. "Yeah, I do! We were caught off guard whenever he burst into some frenzied phase."

"I was only told about it by them, Mario, and Daisy. But I don't remember using the Thunderhand or 'being possessed' at all," Luigi failed to recall.

"The influence of the Dark Moon and the Chaos Emeralds built this strength for you. Not only did they heal your soul and increase the danger of the Chaos Heart that was once in your body, but it has also given you the ability to enhance your Thunderhand. That is why you had those episodes of being unaware of your advanced fighting expertise. Well this time, you're going to be conscious enough to exploit those skills, with my assistance."

"What are you going to do?" the professor asked.

"This will require you to stay up for the night. Possibly the whole thing. I understand you had a rough outing not too long ago, but are you willing to take the challenge?"

Everyone took a glance at Luigi, pondering in his bed. Colombo let out a small whimper. The man lowered his eyebrows and answered Blumiere's question within a few seconds.

"For the fate of the worlds, for the sake of everybody, including Mario, I'll do it."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _The whole shebang has been explained. Luigi now knows of Myster Edge's purpose and backstory, and he seems to be up to the task of defeating him. He'll need the help of his friends and Count Blumiere. Plus, he'll have to be confident in himself. However, what he doesn't know (yet) is Mario's role in Edge's menacing plan. And time is still winding down._

 _Stay tuned for Ch. 49 of Hidden Bravery. Who knows what surprises will lurk around the corner? How will the Count help our green-clad hero? Please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you next time! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Dimentio was the secret character in Luigi's dreams from Ch. 30 and 41. The person in Ch. 36, however, is someone different._

 ** _(2):_** _Technically, the only person that was ever mentioned in Blumiere's family was his father, who took Timpani away from his life that eventually started the events of Super Paper Mario. Myster Edge is an OC for this story, but I thought it would sound interesting if he had some relationship to him. Thus, he was the brother no one has heard of, until now._

 ** _(3):_** _Duplimore was the lurker who took the Emeralds and the Dark Moon pieces to restore Luigi in Ch. 25. Kudos to anyone who guessed that._

 ** _(4):_** _As Count Bleck mentioned (and what Edge inferred back in Ch. 40), there is a certain way the Shadow Spirit can be trounced. That would be Luigi's Thunderhand._ _But the moment of when he'll use his full potential will have to wait until later._


	50. Ch 49: Under Time Pressure

_A/N:_ _To start off, thanks for being patient. Despite it being short, I'm just glad I got this chapter done before I'm starting school again._

 _Secondly, I am SO bad with dates and timing that I realized that the heroes technically only have_ _ONE day left, instead of two. Let me explain. On Friday, when the Oblivion first appeared, Luigi fought Shrewd in Chemical Plant. He went unconscious for two full days, leading up to his return to Evershade on Monday, which is the fourth day since the black holes were created. That means they have one full day left to save the worlds. You wouldn't believe how many times I had to rewrite this chapter because I confused myself with the timeline. Thus, I also had to make some edits from the previous chapters. That's my fault, and I should've known._

 _Finally, I want to thank Tsukimine12, Steel Fairy, NormanWhitesmith, and Tiger of Darkness for their reviews in the last one. I also appreciate everyone else who has reviewed in previous chapters, added this as a favorite, followed, or read the story! Lastly, thank you for helping me reach **15,000 hits**!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer: The story idea and my original characters are the only things I take credit for. The rest is obvious._

* * *

 **Chapter 49:** Under Time Pressure

While Luigi agreed to stay with Blumiere, Timpani, and their Duplighost helpers, E. Gadd recommended everyone else to return to Boo Woods so they could freshen up and search for the final Dark Moon piece, as well as the whereabouts of Mario. With the help of Zephyr, the Greenie activated a Pixelator from Luigi's 3DS to send them all the way back.

Vector, Espio, Charmy, Silver, Shadow, Tails, and Sonic all entered the screen. The last ones remaining were the professor and Colombo.

"Don't tire yourself too much, sonny," E. Gadd advised while holding the Poltergust 6000. "I don't want you pulling muscles before you return to ghost hunting!"

"I'll try not to," Luigi rolled his eyes.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo gave his farewell.

" _Non ti preoccupare_. **_(1)_** I'll return first thing tomorrow morning." He soon received a lick on the face.

"Count, Lady, Duplighosts, it was an honor to meet you properly."

"The feeling's mutual," Timpani smiled.

"Have a safe trip," Duplimore waved.

"Thanks! We'll see you soon, Luigi! I'll make sure to charge this baby up for tomorrow!"

"Bye, Professor. Bye, Colombo."

"Ruff!"

E. Gadd and Colombo entered the Pixelator before it disappeared. The green plumber closed up the dual screen device and placed it back in his pocket. He sighed heavily before he felt a hand on his right shoulder. He turned to the side to catch a glimpse of the tall man.

"Are you ready?"

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Don't worry, man," Duplicit waved off his hesitation. "I'm sure you'll do fine. I mean, you are facing against the Count's brother, but you've gotten through worse."

Duplimore punched his partner.

"OW!"

"Not helping, dolt," he hissed.

"Just ignore them. Let's just focus on training your Thunderhand."

"But where am I going to train? Do we go outside?"

"There's hardly any room in here, and the Treacherous Mansion itself is in a suboptimal location. Evershade Valley is still hazardous with the possessed ghosts trying to attack you or anyone who infiltrates the other mansions. So, I'm going to send us to a new location."

"Where exactly?"

"A place Timpani and I know very well."

Before Luigi could ask again, Blumiere held up his scepter and transported the five of them in a large ball of light. He shielded his closed eyes with his hand, groaning at the whiteness that barely managed to shine through the darkness. He then heard Timpani's reassuring voice.

"Luigi, open your eyes."

He lowered his hand and gradually blinked before he took in his surroundings. He found himself at the top of a hill next to an apple tree. The rest of the land was a humongous field with blooming flowers and long blades of grass. A small breeze flew by, tickling the mustache under his nose. The only source of light was a white, full moon that glowed in the dark sky. But like every other place, it was disturbed by a swirling hole of black and purple.

"What is this place?"

"This is where Timpani and I transported to after we used the Purity Heart to banish the Chaos Heart." ** _(2)_**

"Really?" Count Blumiere nodded at Luigi. "Wow." He took another few seconds to admire the beautiful view. "I... I don't know what to say."

"There's no need to. I know it's quite amazing to describe it in words."

"Other than the stupid Oblivion, or as I call it, 'The Void 2.0', this is a nice place to just sit down and relax," said Duplimore.

"Too bad that's not going to happen," Duplicit complained.

"So we're training here?"

"Correct," answered Blumiere.

"Okay. How do we start?"

"Simple. You attack me."

Luigi was taken aback. "W-What?"

"You heard what I said. You attack me."

"Why would you want yourself to be target practice? I don't want to hurt you."

"This is not the real deal. Edge is the true enemy. But since I'm related to him, I think it's formidable for you to face someone with the same abilities or traits as a final boss would express. You did manage to get a piece of me when you and the heroes fought against my dark self."

"Yeah, but it was for that reason why I was willing to fight. I'm fine with you returning to your former state as a sane being while you're with the love of your life. This is different though."

"Don't be concerned about me, Luigi. This is for _you_. You must triumph over Edge to save everybody. Wouldn't your brother want to do the same?"

"Well, he is a hero after all. I'm normally the sidekick or the guy who's watching our house, doing nothing for several reasons."

"If cowardice is one of them, you must find a way to overcome it. I believe in you. Timpani believes in you. Duplimore and Duplicit also believe in you. All of your friends express the same. And so does Mario. All you have to do is to have confidence in yourself."

Luigi took Blumiere's words very seriously. Albeit he was still scared of Edge and the possible destruction that could occur by Wednesday morning, he found himself as the one to step up and be a hero. It'll take strength, brains, skills, and of course, bravery to improve his character. This time, he was not taking the role of Player Two. He was not going to be another Mario as well. He was going to be himself. Although he won't be perfect, all that mattered was to save the dimensions from crumbling.

"Alright. I'll do my best."

"Perfect. We'll spend combat sessions in ten-minute intervals with breaks in between. Timpani and the Duplighosts will examine and evaluate your performance. They'll give you any honest feedback or constructive criticism to either motivate you or enhance your fighting techniques. Remember, your Thunderhand is crucial in order to conquer Myster Edge."

Timpani walked over to the two, directing her gaze at the plumber. "After you're completely done, I can use my powers to help restore both of your health, as if you were never harmed. Remember, Luigi, this is only to prepare yourself. I wish you good luck regardless."

"Thank you, Lady Timpani."

She giggled. "You can just call me Timpani, or Tippi like old times."

Luigi couldn't help but smile. He shifted towards the Count. "Let's get started."

Blumiere nodded. "Okay, Mr. Man in Green. Time to show how capable you truly are."

* * *

 _Location: Angel Island_

It was now Tuesday morning, and Knuckles rested in front of the Master Emerald. Previously, he took down several sets of Shadelings that emerged from the black hole above. Albeit it was tiring, he managed to protect the island from falling or anything else disastrous. There were no signs of the robots overnight, so he slept overnight without any issues.

 _"Sonic and Tails should be with the brothers to find that last moon piece. Amy, Cream, and Cheese said they warned the others in the Mushroom Kingdom while they took care of the city. Rouge and Blaze should have already told Eggman about the invasion as they're defending Emerald Hill. But still, if the timing is correct, everything will perish by tomorrow morning, and there hasn't been much progress from what I've heard."_

Just then, he heard a beeping sound. Knuckles woke up and checked his communicator.

"Knuckles reporting here."

"Hey, Knuckles. It's Amy. We managed to protect Station Square from the invasion yesterday. But Cream, Cheese, and I will prepare ourselves just in case. And we also asked other friends to defend Green Hill and the rest of Mobius.

"That's good, at least. Have Sonic and the others found that moon thing yet?"

"I just got in contact with Sonic about this. It's not looking good." Amy explained the details to him.

"Shoot, you're right. And we're running out of time, too."

"Are you okay from those bad guys, Mr. Knuckles?" Cream asked.

"Chao?" Cheese mumbled.

"I'm fine, you guys. Do you know how Blaze and Rouge are faring?"

Another beep came from the wrist device. "Hello?" the purple cat called.

"Blaze! How's Emerald Hill and Chemical Plant?"

"We're currently in another invasion. Robots are coming from the Oblivion as I speak."

"On a different note, we barely convinced Eggman to side with us," Rouge mentioned into the microphone of Blaze's communicator.

"Barely?" Amy repeated with a raised eyebrow.

"It's a long story," Blaze rolled her eyes.

* * *

 _~Flashback, Yesterday_

 _..._

 _Location: Chemical Plant Zone_

 _Rouge and Blaze traveled back to the toxic city to search for Eggman, Orbot, and Cubot. Along the way, the girls zipped through Emerald Hill to find the Oblivion to be much larger than what it was on Friday. When they reached Chemical Plant, the black hole was also colossal, even when looking at it from afar._

 _"Hard to believe that we went through this area three days ago to face a possessed robot," Rouge put a hand on her hip._

 _"Same here," Blaze concurred. "Now let's find Eggman ASAP."_

 _They reached the arena where they fought the Shrewd Possessor when he took over Metal Sonic's body. In the center, Dr. Eggman was on his hands and knees repairing the robotic hedgehog while Orbot and Cubot spectated and gave him the necessary tools to reboot him._

 _"Hey, sir, we got some visitors," Orbot tapped the man's shoulder._

 _Eggman stopped his work and raised his head to see the purple cat and the white bat walk towards him. He narrowed his eyes behind his glasses. "What are you ladies doing here?"_

 _Rouge pretended to be flattered. "Why Eggman, I didn't know you respected attractive women like myself."_

 _Blaze facepalmed and shook her head._

 _"Listen, just because you're 'buddy-buddy' with Sonic and that red, plump heap of trash, doesn't mean I'm always going to treat you like enemies."_

 _"You do know that 'red, plump heap of trash' has a name, right?"_

 _"I couldn't give two damns about that guy, especially after I heard his ridiculous comments about me! And besides, Bowser does the same thing with the green guy!"_

 _"You're acting like a big baby about this."_

 _"I am not!"_

 _"I don't know. It sounds like you are," Cubot had to open his mouth._

 _Eggman grunted and slammed the wrench he held in his hand over Cubot's noggin. The yellow minion was dazed as his head started spinning._

 _"Haven't I told you not to say certain things out loud in front of me?"_

 _"I don't know, pardner. What done ya say to me earlier? Sumthin' about not drinkin' the whole kit and caboodle, or y'all get whittled?" **(3)**_

 _Blaze and Rouge stared at Orbot, who looked somewhat distressed._

 _"Cowboy phase. If anything, I consider it less annoying than when he talks like a pirate."_

 _"What's your deal, anyway?" Eggman wanted to get this conversation out of the way._

 _"As you could already tell," Blaze started, "the black holes in Mobius are growing slowly, the same goes for the places in the Mushroom Kingdom. But according to Knuckles, Edge is sending robots from the Oblivion to attack each and every area as another distraction while Luigi and the others retrieve the final Dark Moon piece. Everyone else is preparing for the impending assault, and we came here to warn you three, or four once Metal's up and running."_

 _"And how am I supposed to defend ourselves? My base is far away since I haven't bothered leaving to repair Metal, alongside the fact that it's still taken over by the bastard's underlings."_

 _"I'm sure you can reprogram him to take on those enemies. And I've seen you handle worse against Sonic, so maybe you have a chance to survive," Rouge looked at the positives, sort of._

 _"Don't remind me of those times, Batty Face."_

 _"We need to head back to Emerald Hill to defend the inhabitants, as well as recruit some other people who are willing to help fight. We might send some your way, that is if they don't mind being near you. But that's the gist of what's happening," Blaze finished._

 _"Hmph, well I can handle taking care of myself, thank you very much."_

 _"But weren't ya askin' about how you're goin' ta protect yourself whe-yn 'em robots attack ya?"_

 _"Do you want to get slammed in the head again, you duncebucket?"_

 _"Well-"_

 _"Cubot, don't try to irritate him even further," Orbot interrupted._

 _"Listen, we gotta get going. But don't come crying to us if you get ambushed."_

 _"Later, Doctor. Watch yourself. Your body is a large target to hit after all," Rouge winked._

 _Eggman growled as the bat flew away with Blaze running after her. "Great. Not only do I have to finish repairing Metal, but I have to undo your stupid voice chip and encounter those robots again!"_

 _"You wouldn't have to do the second thing if you didn't hit me, you beef-headed coot."_

 _Cubot's verbal insult earned him another whack of the wrench. He kind of had that coming, to be fair. Orbot rolled his eyes before he resumed to help Eggman._

 _Upon leaving, Blaze turned to Rouge. "You think he's going to listen to us?"_

 _"Who knows? He's not one to be easily convinced unlike Bowser whenever he falls for Peach's charm. But maybe he'll take in our precaution. It's his choice, though," she answered._

 _"I guess you're right."_

 _With no further questions, they hastened to Emerald Hill._

 _~End of flashback_

* * *

"Does that answer your question?"

"I guess so," Knuckles replied.

"In the meantime, we got to protect this place again. Call us for any emergencies. But we'll be busy for the next hour or even more."

"Fair enough. Try not to get killed out there."

"We won't unless Edge isn't stopped within the next twenty-four hours or so. Regardless, the same goes to you."

"By the way, Knux," Rouge interrupted before Blaze ended the call.

"Rouge, this is not the time to continue talking."

"Just give me a minute. I have to ask, how's my Emerald doing?"

Knuckles, Amy, Cream, and Cheese barely heard the palm of Blaze's hand slap her forehead in annoyance. As for the echidna, he responded to the bat, "Can you stop thinking about emeralds for once, considering the Master Emerald ISN'T yours?"

"But is it still untouched?"

"Of course it is, idiot. I'm guarding it from the robots who invaded Angel Island! They haven't managed to destroy it, thank Chaos."

"Rouge, we need to get rid of the enemies here," Blaze reminded her with annoyance.

"Alright, fine. Don't get your fur twisted up in a knot." Blaze's end of the call was finished.

Knuckles then heard a different sound. Another group of Shadelings appeared from the Oblivion. "I gotta get going. More robots are here."

"Oh, okay, Knuckles. Be safe and good luck."

"I will, Amy. Same to you."

The red animal turned off his communicator before he clenched his fists, punched them together, and got into position to defend the island once again. At the same time, the potential end of all worlds was lingering in his head.

* * *

It was a late-night run for the green man to be settled with his improved powers. Through thick and thin, Blumiere tested him to defend and execute in any conditions, good or bad. The first several hours were the most tiring since Luigi wasn't showing his full potential. Then again, he did wake up from a small coma and agreed to stay up late to hone his fighting expertise. His energy levels were pretty low, and he was deprived of sleep. He already knew this was only practice, yet it would be tough. But he wasn't going to give up.

The Count was fair to not go easy on Luigi, for this was a test to prove that he can withstand Myster Edge who wielded the power of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards. Although Blumiere didn't have lightning powers like his younger sibling, he utilized the abilities he had when he controlled the original Chaos Heart from the Dark Prognosticus. He floated to wherever he wanted and zoom right at him to deal direct damage. He maintained his flipping skills, which allowed him to sneak behind Luigi and use his dark magic. Globs of purple and black were thrown at the Thunderhand master. On occasion, he unleashed a miniature Void to suck the plumber inside.

Luigi's athleticism and reflexes instigated him to evade Blumiere's attacks. With his speed and jumping capabilities, he performed a high triple jump and shot a bolt at the Count from a high angle. Besides his thunder, Luigi implemented physical combat. He grabbed Blumiere with his hands, spun him around, and threw him as far as he could. He ran forward to punch or kick the Count, finishing off with another round of thunderbolts to immobilize his scepter. Within a few seconds, Blumiere was defeated by Luigi.

"Ah, whew... Excellent. You have really done better in this contest than the rest of them."

"Thank you, Count. You were a formidable individual to train with."

Timpani strolled over to rejuvenate their health status. "There you go, gentlemen. You did amazing, Luigi!"

"I gotta say, you look ready to take on Myster Edge," Duplicit commented.

"You think so?"

"We all do! We think you're truly ready!" Duplimore trusted him.

"The real question, do you think you're prepared to take on Edge?" Blumiere queried.

For the first time in a while, Luigi smiled heroically. And with confidence, he replied, "I believe I am."

* * *

 _Location: Star Hill_

Myster Edge returned to the starry mountain with Clawdio and Slimmer after completing his main tasks in Evershade. He fooled Luigi with a fake Tough Possessor, he stole the Chaos Heart copy from his body, and he transformed his brother into his own slave.

Now, Edge was onto his next goal. He must persuade Luigi to enter the Oblivion.

He met with the Omega clone who had come from Vanilla Dome. "Alpha, I need you for something."

"What is it, my liege?"

"I want you to record a video of me."

"A video? What for?"

"It's sort of a ransom note. Or rather, a threatening message. Yeah, I'll go with that. This is to address the impending situation of me building a new empire and reviving my friend, all while the Oblivion eventually obliterates every single square foot of land. Specifically, I want this video to be directed to my target, the green mustachioed plumber. Once it's done, make sure he receives it immediately."

"Yes, sir." A high definition camera appeared from the robot's stomach. "I'll be recording whenever you're ready."

"Just give me a few seconds." Edge lifted his eyes up to the black hole. "Hehehe, in no more than twenty-four hours, everything will be gone like Dimentio wanted." He turned around towards a different figure who stood behind him while in between his other robot henchmen. "Hmm, you're going to do fine, for now. Even if he stops you, at least he'll never forgive himself for hurting his own family. And then, I can take advantage of that pathetic, little worm. After so many years, his resuscitation will finally commence."

The person simply blinked without saying a word.

"Alright, Alpha," he shifted back to his main Shadeling. "On my count. Three, two, one." He pointed a finger at the robot, indicating to start the recorded message. Edge started off with an evil sneer and began his menacing speech.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I hope I haven't confused anyone with the dates since I cleared it up from the beginning. But to generalize, as of the end of this chapter, there is only one full day left for Luigi and his friends to defeat Myster Edge, take back the Chaos Emeralds, find the last Dark Moon piece and restore the celestial body, get rid of the Oblivion, and prevent the dimensions from falling._

 _We're still getting down to the wire as the story is approaching its conclusion. Eventually, I will tell you when the final chapter will happen. It won't be Ch. 50, but we're very close._

 _In the meantime, please review, follow/favorite, and thanks for reading as always! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _This Italian phrase translates to 'Don't worry.'_

 ** _(2):_** _The undisclosed area where Timpani and Blumiere were shown after the credits of SPM is __what I'm referring to here._

 ** _(3):_** _Bear with me; I looked up some cowboy lingo for Cubot in this scene. It's confusing to read, yes, but I wanted to add some humor in there._


	51. Ch 50: On the Edge of Destruction

_A/N: Wow. A prologue and fifty chapters uploaded in a span of fifteen months. Can't believe this is still going on, and we're almost finished. Speaking of which, I re-edited the prologue (AGAIN) because I keep making last-second changes to prepare writing one of the scenes at the end. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm stupid._

 _However, I have to address something serious at the bottom. (Some of you already know, but others probably don't, so I'm putting it here like I did for my other stories.) I hope you'll understand._

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I still don't own Mario or Sonic. I only take credit for the story plot and my original characters._

* * *

 **Chapter 50:** On the Edge of Destruction

 _Location: Toad Town_

Princess Peach woke up early, doing her usual hygienic routine and putting on her pink dress, crown, gloves, and accessories. After having a cup of tea for breakfast, she walked out the castle doors. She stood on the bridge and stared at the sunny sky, the humongous Oblivion still swirling ominously.

She sighed. Amy explained about the Shadow Spirit's intentions of sending his minions to attack any areas where the dark holes linger. With the help of Daisy and Toadsworth, Peach made sure every realm, far and nearby, were aware of the situation. Yoshi went back home to lead the other dinosaurs for shelter and battle. DK and Diddy plan to recruit the other Kongs to defend Kongo Jungle. Even Wario and Waluigi were notified of this despite them rarely contributing to the community and causing mischief most of the time. All the other locations and their residents were in check, too.

However, the only one she had not talked to at all was Bowser. And there were many reasons why. Yet, she couldn't help but feel guilty. The Koopa King wasn't the main threat right now. He probably deserved to know about this information. But since he's known to be stubborn and unwilling to listen or participate, which generally forced him to team up with Mario and herself, she was reluctant to divulge.

Thankfully for her people, there was no chaos in the Mushroom Kingdom. But Peach remained worried. She hasn't heard anything from Mario, Luigi, or the others in Evershade Valley. Were they alright? Was the Dark Moon restored? Did something terrible happen? Was Edge there to cause more mayhem?

These questions bothered the princess. Her morale was low since things have gotten out of hand since Luigi's birthday.

Suddenly, Peach heard the castle doors slam open. She turned around to see Toadsworth, Toad, and Toadette running towards her.

"Princess! We have horrid news!"

Well then. That sure enlightened her day even more, didn't it?

"Toadsworth, what's wrong?"

"I just received a call from Professor E. Gadd! There was trouble in Evershade Valley!"

"What kind of trouble?" she cautiously inquired.

"When they reached Evershade, Sonic and Tails were seized by some ghosts and were replaced with Edge's robot minions!" Toad squealed.

"When Mario and Luigi entered the mansion, Mario went with the fake Sonic and Tails while Luigi and Colombo went another way," Toadette added.

"Sonic's friends were saved at least, as well as the real Sonic and Tails. But they found out that Myster Edge was planning to revive someone named Dimentio," Toadsworth placed a hand on his cheek.

Peach's eyes were filled with disbelief. "What?!"

"It's all true! We were hearing him on speaker!" Toad bellowed.

Peach thought back to the nightmares Luigi explained. What seemed to be bad dreams turned out to be true. Edge was planning to revive his fallen partner who was none other than the master of dimensions and the pleaser of crowds.

"Are Mario and Luigi okay?"

"That's the worst news!" Toadette shook her head with grief. "Mario was apparently taken, and Luigi's in danger!" Peach's mouth was agape from this revelation.

"What about Luigi being in danger?"

Everyone turned to see Daisy walking out to join the group.

"Princess Daisy," Toadsworth addressed, "you see..." He didn't know how to say it so he wouldn't upset the flower princess.

"Luigi was duped when he fought a fake Possessor and was beaten by Edge again!" Toad panicked.

Daisy's eyes enlarged. "What did you say?!"

"I said Luigi was duped by facing a fake Tough Possessor! That means the last Dark Moon piece is still out there. And not only that, but the shadow guy kidnapped Mario again and stole the Chaos Heart!"

"You're serious?!"

"We're not kidding at all!"

"Hold on. The Chaos Heart that was used to create the Void years ago... I thought that was already gone."

"The professor explained it to us. Dimentio planted a replica in Luigi's heart before he was deceased. Then, Edge stole it so he could use it to revive him!" Toadette clarified.

"That's terrible!"

"Wait a second. How did E. Gadd know about all this?" Peach was bewildered.

"Apparently Master Luigi and the Sonic team were told by a tall man with a hat and cape and a white-haired woman with a butterfly decoration. According to E. Gadd, their names were Blumiere and Timpani," said Toadsworth.

The pink princess was speechless once again. "You mean, they're alive?!"

"It seems so."

Peach slightly exhaled, taking in this information slowly. "Is there anything else we should know?"

"Right now, the professor is searching for the final Dark Moon fragment. Sonic and his friends should be heading here as well."

"We're running out of time. The Oblivion looks like it could cover the whole sky in a few hours," Toad felt anxious.

"But we heard from Amy that we have until tomorrow morning or something around that time," Toadette thought.

"Regardless, this is seriously bad," Daisy murmured. Her thoughts were focused primarily on Luigi.

Peach clasped her hands, trying to stay hopeful. "I'm not sure if this could get any worse."

Oh, boy... You spoke too soon, Your Highness.

Just then, the Toad denizens were screaming all over the town. Usually, this happened whenever an evil source entered the kingdom. And the typical source-

"HRRRRGH!"

-was the one who made that loud roar.

Peach, Daisy, and the Toads turned towards the large creature who made his way to the castle.

"BWAHAHAHA! Princess Peach! You're here to witness my next act of revenge!" Bowser smirked.

"HAHAHAHA!" the others heard a different sound, this one being an annoying laugh. Bowser Jr., flying in his Koopa Clown Car, swooped down to join his father's side. "Lookie here, if it isn't Mama Peach, the skinny tangerine, and a bunch of mushroom heads! How's about we take over this place and get rid of those stupid Mario Bros.?"

Daisy huffed at the brat's insult and stepped forward. "Now's not the time to start another invasion. We're already expecting one from Edge!"

"The Shadow Spirit is planning to send his robots from the Oblivion, which are those black holes that are floating in the sky," Peach pointed out the one above her castle. The Koopas saw it, but they were anything but interested. "Soon enough, they will consume every single world!"

"Where have I heard that before?" Bowser asked.

"The Void, remember?"

"I knew that! That was a rhetorical question!"

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Sure you did."

"Grr... Shut up! I can overcome that pathetic shadow and take over the universe like I did twice!"

"Except Mario and Luigi would defeat you."

"No, they won't! Speaking of which, I see that neither one of them are here! Are they too cowardly to go against me this time?"

"For your information, they are not here, and they aren't afraid of you!"

"Hmph, I know Mario really isn't, but his brother is always scared of everything, including Papa!" Jr. boasted. "And that mustached man wouldn't have the guts to take us on alone!"

"Regardless, with them out of the picture, this will be easy to kidnap you!"

"Not on my watch!" They all heard a cocky voice. Next thing they knew, Jr. got knocked in the head, followed by a spin dash on Bowser. "Glad to drop on in!" the blue hedgehog landed on the bridge in front of the princesses and Toads.

"Sonic!" Peach caterwauled.

He gave a thumbs-up and his signature smile. "How's it going, Peach? Hope I wasn't late to join the fight party!"

"GWAH! Must you ruin this moment?!"

He turned around and waved a finger at the Koopa King. "Heh! Sorry, tubby! Didn't mean to rain on your parade!"

"Sonic, where are your other friends?" Daisy asked.

"They're catching up. I went ahead of them to see what's going on. Then I saw these two here and decided to give them a little sneak attack! I must say, they were too slow to see it coming!"

"No wonder Eggman hates you! You make terrible puns, and you're so irritating and hard to get rid of!"

"Hey, I didn't say one, but there's probably someone out there who likes my play on words."

"Guess what? I'm not one of them. And now..." Bowser snapped his fingers.

Sonic heard shrieks from Peach and Daisy. They, alongside the Toads, were tied together by rope. He then heard Tails yell for him.

"Sonic!"

Behind Bowser, his friends were captured by the Koopalings. They were also tied down with rope. Ludwig shot a magical ball at the hedgehog. Without any reaction time, Sonic fell onto the bridge as his arms and legs were detained.

"Heh, got him!"

"Great job, Faker. You sure handled these idiots well," Shadow snarled. "Thought it was smart to go by yourself?"

"Oh, lay off, Shadow."

"BWAHAHAHA! Well done! We distracted you idiots as it was my plan all along! Now, Koopas, let's head back to my castle! I'm sure you'll all have fun rotting in a dungeon for the rest of your lives!"

"What's the point? Everything will only last for another day!" Silver protested.

"And why would I only last that long?"

"Did they not tell you the story?" Espio questioned.

"The Oblivion is gonna get rid of everything because that shadow guy started it!" Vector explained.

"I don't want to die! And I don't want to be a prisoner again!" Charmy cried.

"Oh, shut it, you stingy wasp," Wendy scowled.

"We'll bring these chumps to the airship, Dad!" Morton called.

"Good! Now for you guys," Bowser stared at the six tied up on the bridge, "I'll let Jr. escort you."

Suddenly, Lemmy found something tingly, yet powerful. "Hey! What's going on?! OW!" he yelled.

"Lemmy! What's the matter? YOW!" Iggy screamed as if he got zapped.

"Grr... What is going on back there?!" The King turned around to see said Koopalings knocked to the ground. Later, a couple of flashes appeared near the other five.

"Where da heck did that come from?!" Roy grunted.

"I don't know! But I think- OUCH!" Larry felt something electrifying that he got sent back ten feet. The same thing occurred to Ludwig, Wendy, Morton, and Roy so that all seven Koopalings were disabled from whatever stopped them. The Sonic gang was later freed by the ropes being cut in a quick motion.

"Who's doing this?!" Bowser was confused and angry simultaneously.

Jr. gasped. "Dad! It's coming from- WHOA!" the small Koopa fell out of his vehicle and fell onto his stomach.

"Alright! No more funny business! Who's behind all this?"

A crack of thunder boomed so that everyone heard it. Later, a bolt nearly hit Bowser had he not jumped backwards. Bowser gazed up and found the person responsible for interfering.

"You!"

Everyone shifted to where Bowser was looking and saw someone standing on the castle balcony in front of the famous stained-glass window with Peach's image embedded into it.

"Luigi!" Daisy and Peach happily cheered.

The green man jumped down and got rid of the ropes to free the princesses, the Toads, and Sonic.

"Yo, thanks for the help, Luigi. We weren't expecting you to arrive this early, especially me!"

"You're welcome, Sonic," he responded valiantly.

"GAH! Green 'Stache! Must you get in my way again?! And where's Mario?!"

"He's not here. And before you jump to conclusions, just listen to me."

"I'm not gonna listen to anyone, especially to nuisances like you!"

"Bowser, please. I'm begging you to-"

"Can it, you little weed! You're one of the reasons I got beaten down in Sparkling Waters! I'm going to pulverize you until you turn into ash! And I'll do the same to Mario once I find him!"

As Bowser started running towards him, Luigi closed his eyes, clenching his fists.

"Luigi, move!" Peach shouted.

 _"I didn't want to do this, but..."_ He waited for an audio cue for Bowser when was very close to him. He raised his right claw, ready to slash the green plumber. But to the Koopa's disbelief, something else happened. Even Sonic and his friends were surprised.

"THUNDER!"

Luigi extended his arms out to release two strong thunderbolts from his palms, directing them to the large turtle. They shocked Bowser and pushed him far back that he went flying in the air. He flew further than Larry did! The Mobians ran away to the side to avoid the incoming Koopa. Bowser landed on his shell, struggling to get up.

"Whoa," Tails breathed.

"Incredible," Silver whispered.

"No way," Daisy thought.

"Wow, Luigi. How'd you do that?" Toad blinked.

"My Thunderhand."

"You mean, the thunder powers you learned in the Beanbean Kingdom?"

"Yeah," Luigi nodded at Toadette.

"I can definitely see how you've improved. You don't look like you're on a possessive rampage like the first two times! Blumiere must have taught you well," said Sonic.

"He sure did. He's not here with me though. The Count said he would return to his hiding spot in the Treacherous Mansion with Timpani, Duplimore, and Duplicit. But thanks to them, I'm ready to take on Edge."

"That's great!"

"Hey!" Luigi and the others stared towards Jr. who was getting up on his feet. Even the Koopalings recovered from the plumber's previous attacks. "This isn't over yet!"

"Need some help, Luigi?" Sonic offered.

"I would like that."

"We'll help, too!" Vector raised a fist in the air.

"And so will we!" Daisy took out her parasol with Peach following her. The Toads stayed behind on the bridge.

Everyone split up on the castle grounds to take on the young Koopas. Luigi and Sonic focused on Bowser Jr. Peach and Daisy took on Wendy. The Chaotix countered Lemmy, Larry, and Iggy. Tails, Shadow, and Silver teamed up against Ludwig, Roy, and Morton.

The princesses dodged left and right from Wendy's bouncing rings. Daisy took an opportunity to swing her umbrella into one of them. It barely missed Wendy.

"Hey! Don't retaliate with _my_ magic!"

Peach used her heart power to stun the female Koopa. When she was successful, she hit a moving ring at Wendy. Daisy ran forward to whack her away.

"Great job, Daisy!"

"You too, Peach! That's girl power right there!"

Vector whirled his tail as Larry, Iggy, and Lemmy jumped to avoid tripping. They took out their wands and spewed many colored fireballs at the Chaotix. Charmy flew away easily while Espio camouflaged himself.

"Charmy, go for the little one!" Espio ordered while camouflaged.

"Huh? Who said that? And why'd he call me little?"

"Because you're the smallest out of every Koopa here, idiot," Larry scoffed.

Vector ran forward to face Iggy, jumping away from the green fire he shot from his wand.

"Ugh! How do I keep missing my aim?"

"I was gonna say that I'm probably a good defender, but that works, too!" The crocodile relied on his powerful hands and jaws to crush the green-shelled Koopaling. After dealing a couple of smashes, he whipped his tail a second time to wail him over to where Wendy was laying.

Charmy buzzed down like an airplane descending onto a runway. Except his target was Lemmy who tried to stop him with a colorful bomb. Charmy saw the projectile in time to dodge it. Afterwards, he dashed into the Koopa, and his stinger added extra damage to leave a red spot on his skin.

"Ouch! Aw, man! I hate bee stings!"

"Yes! I got him down!" Charmy circled around with glee.

Espio was stealthy and quiet to sneak an attack on Larry. With an acrobatic flip and kick, there was no contest between him and the fallen Koopa.

"Darn it! How was that fair?!" he complained before losing his energy.

The chameleon reappeared. "And that's how it's done."

Tails pulled out a wrench and engaged in a weapons clash with Ludwig, defending and attacking like two knights with swords. The fox was about able to use his wits to outsmart the Koopa and parried his tool into his stomach. Ludwig was only able to release a single fireball in desperation before Tails swiped his namesakes to throw him into the Koopaling pile.

"Ludwig's done!" Tails yelled.

"Ugh, makes me wish my tail was useful," he slurred.

Silver fought Morton using his telekinesis, preventing his magic from reaching him and his allies. His quick reaction time allowed him to jump whenever his foe performed a shock wave. Silver teleported to him, catching the Koopa off guard. With a successful spin dash, Morton was beaten.

"Another one down!" called Silver.

"Aargh! Didn't see that coming," Morton moaned.

Shadow used his speed to quickly take down Roy like he did on the night of Luigi's birthday. To the Koopa's misfortune, he barely got a chance to fight.

"Drat! I hate dat hedgehog!"

Shadow merely huffed to himself.

Luigi and Sonic took turns fighting Bowser Jr. who went to desperate measures by returning to his Koopa Clown Car and pulling out his magic paintbrush. He shot graffiti slushes which only made the ground slippery. Sonic almost fell, but Luigi helped him up. The plumber released a bolt, but Jr. evaded it. He tried to fight back by spewing spike balls from the car's mouth. The hedgehog effortlessly ran past them and performed a homing attack to make Jr. fall out a second time.

At that moment, Bowser finally got up, and boy, was he furious. With Sonic and Jr. occupied, he ran over to Luigi when he wasn't expecting him. Or, that's what he thought.

The lean Mario brother swiftly zapped Bowser with another thunderbolt. Instead of flying back, he was stunned for a brief second. When he tried to move an inch, he trembled as his arms and legs felt like spaghetti. Bowser instantly fell to the ground, opening his eyes to glower at Luigi. He mirrored his face with his signature death stare.

"I wouldn't have done this if you let me explain," he bluntly spoke to him. A little bit of smoke emitted from Bowser's nostrils. "To make it short, Mario isn't here."

"And what makes me think you're telling the truth?"

Luigi resisted the urge to facepalm. "Did I ever try to lie or manipulate you?"

The Koopa switched topics, refusing to answer his question. "Where he is?"

"Ow!" Jr. was tossed aside to fall next to his dad.

Sonic walked over to support Luigi's side. "He already told you, King Blockhead. He's not here! He got kidnapped!"

"King Boo took him again?"

That time, Luigi slapped his hand on his forehead.

Sonic rolled his eyes. "No, it was the same person who captured you, your annoying son, the princess, and almost everyone else on Luigi's birthday, as well as us after we crushed you in Sparkling Waters."

"You mean, that stupid shadow guy?!"

"Ding ding ding! Our lucky contestant has FINALLY figured out the problem!"

"Urgh, I repeat, no wonder Eggman finds you annoying," Bowser grumbled. He slowly stood up, causing Luigi and Sonic to get into their stances. "I'm not attacking you this time. I'm not willing to get shocked for the third time."

Their friends congregated to join them. Jr. took a while to compose himself as he stood next to Bowser.

"Argh, what's the big deal with those lightning powers anyway?" the kid criticized.

"It's thunder," Luigi corrected.

"Whatever! Those bolts hurt me!"

"Oh, boo-hoo. Grow up and deal with it," Sonic chastised.

Jr. was still mad that he wanted to make another remark, but his father stopped him.

"Where exactly is he?"

The two-tailed kit stepped forward to answer. "We don't know. We were in Evershade last night with Luigi, and we met with Blumiere."

Bowser blinked before realization hit him. "You mean that top hat dude with the cape and the floating book?"

"Yes. He's alive with Timpani, too," Peach explained.

"And as far we know, Mario and I were tricked to split up, only for him to get caught in Edge's possession again," Luigi finished.

"You seriously don't know where your brother is?" Bowser asked once more for confirmation.

The man shook his head. "No one does."

"Except me and my master."

Everyone looked around when they heard a mechanical voice.

"Hey! Up there!" Toad pointed.

They spotted the Omega clone landing in between the Koopas and the heroes.

"What's he doing here?" Silver wondered.

"Hell if I know," Shadow replied.

"What do you want?" Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"I have a pre-recorded message for the man in green," Alpha lectured. "This also applies to everyone else though."

"Let's just hope this doesn't self-destruct like all of Eggman's videos in the past," Sonic crossed his arms. **_(1)_**

Alpha's body rearranged to display a screen. It turned on to reveal the Shadow Spirit's leering face.

"Good morning, peasants. You probably already know this, but as of right now, you have less than twenty-four hours to try to suspend me if you want to save your precious little worlds. I also assume you're probably fighting the robots in the locations my underlings have trespassed. But, in order to truly retain your pathetic dimensions, you'll have to fight me and get rid of the Oblivion before time runs out. Even if you do the first, which you _won't_ , at least my partner will return to resume the mayhem he tried to pull off before he was dead. And speaking of my partner, he'll be so happy to see your face again, _Luigi_."

Many sets of eyes were narrowed, most notably from said man. The others were either in shock or bewilderment.

"I prefer if you come to me alone. But, you have the option to bring some allies with you. Just know that they will also be threatened by my powers. They'll suffer the same torture I dealt to you. Possibly worse by tenfold. So, if you want to ensure their safety until the worlds crumble, follow my suggestion. If not," Edge paused to chuckle, "I'll gladly dig up their graves."

Luigi didn't blink once. His hands were clenched so hard that electricity was flowing around his knuckles. He tried to settle down in the case he accidentally touched someone with his Thunderhand. Regardless, he couldn't stop glaring at the video.

"In the end, I will have avenged Dimentio by reviving him, and he'll gladly use your body as a vessel, the same way he used you to create the super version of himself. Hope you enjoy your last several hours before rotting in hell, Green Plumber."

The screen transitioned to black, and Alpha's body returned to normal.

"I highly advocate following Myster Edge's orders. Otherwise, you will pay the consequences." The robot blasted off to leave the party.

"That's absolutely dreadful!" Toadsworth was appalled.

"We're going to be screwed at this rate," Vector grunted.

"Despite time constraints, we haven't lost yet. Still, things just got more serious than before," Espio declared.

"Now do you believe us?" Sonic turned to Bowser.

"Hmph. Maybe. I'll just say that you're all lucky I decided to not pounce on you."

"Whatever you say," Luigi sighed.

"You okay, Luigi?" Tails questioned.

He took a deep breath before exhaling through his nose. "Just conflicted." The entire group understood the position he was in. "If I allow any of you to join me to fight Edge, he'll likely take advantage of it. The odds are in his favor rather than ours. And besides, I don't think you deserve to suffer as much as I did."

"Luigi..." Daisy placed a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm serious," he interrupted. "I'm not saying you're too weak or not useful. You've all been helpful in your own ways."

"Except for these two and the other lousy turtles," Shadow pointed. Bowser and Jr. stared at the ebony hedgehog.

"Either way, I'm not risking anyone to lose their lives, even if I need help."

"But from the way things look, we'll all die if you don't have any extra support! Edge could possibly destroy you for good, and Dimentio might take over your soul! I don't want that to happen to you, Luigi!" Tails looked desperate to change his mind.

"I'm sorry, guys. I don't want you all to die. I would gladly sacrifice my life to save everyone. Especially for Mario."

"Luigi, there must be another way to solve this," Peach contemplated.

"I agree," Sonic nodded. "Plus, you don't know where you need to go to encounter that shadow creep."

Suddenly, there was a loud honk that caught everyone's ears. It was followed by some barking. Everyone turned around to see Professor E. Gadd riding in his Super Poltergust 3001 with Colombo in the back seat. He unbuckled his seat belt and removed his helmet. The Polterpup ran up to his owner and was caught in his hands. He gently set him down and faced the short, old man.

"Luigi! I have excellent news!" He then paused when he saw the Koopa tyrant. "Oh, well, this is awkward. Might I ask why he's here?"

"Hey, what am I, chopped Turtley Leaves?!" Jr. complained.

"Long story," Luigi waved it off. "What is it, Professor?"

"Zephyr and I were working together to relocate the final Dark Moon fragment and the real Tough Possessor. It seems that he's lurking at the top of Star Hill!"

"Star Hill?" everyone but the Koopas repeated.

"And my instinct also tells me that Mario was taken there, too!"

Luigi thought for a second. "He must have taken him into the Oblivion."

Sonic widened his eyes. "You think so?"

"If I could be taken into the Oblivion in my dreams, it can happen in real life. And besides, the Oblivion is probably the same as entering the Void. It's probably as hazardous, but I don't know for sure."

"But how are you going to get there? You can't really fly up into the sky by yourself," Charmy pointed out.

"Oh ho ho! That's where you're wrong!" E. Gadd chuckled. "I actually made something special for an occasion like this. I just never thought I would be able to use it!"

"What is it, Professor?" asked Tails.

"That, my fox friend, is my E. Gadd Eclipse Cannon! It works like Warp Cannons to go from world to world, except my cannon allows anyone to be launched to anywhere! I'll probably have it patented in a couple years if successful!"

"Not to get your hopes down, Professor, but I think the Bob-ombs beat you to that invention long before you did."

"What do you mean?"

"Mario shot to the moon with the Bob-ombs' large cannon, the Grande Boom, in Fahr Outpost. **_(2)_** It works the same way."

"Oh," E. Gadd was disappointed, but he waved it off. "I guess I'll have to work on something else innovative. Regardless, I can send you into the Oblivion above Star Hill so you can counter that evil shadow and save your brother!"

"That's fine. I'll head out now."

"Hold up, Green 'Stache," Bowser hindered him before he could leave. "What am I supposed to do about this?"

"Since Edge is sending robots to wherever a dark hole floats over, you might as well go back to your castle and defend it."

"Why are you suggesting me to this?"

"Well, Eggman's base was taken over by Edge's robots. The same could happen to your kingdom if you don't put a stop to them. If the worlds end up being saved, at least your castle wouldn't be wrecked, and you won't have to rebuild it again."

"Especially after you and your Koopas had to construct hundreds of others after Mario kept beating you," Daisy teased, earning a grunt from Bowser.

"How do you know about this?" Jr. narrowed his eyes.

"Knuckles told us."

"The guy who always gets fooled by Eggman?"

"That's our Knucklehead," said Sonic.

"But why are you telling me this? We're enemies, although Mario's my main and more annoying archrival."

"True, but that doesn't mean you and your troops deserve to have your place trashed intentionally. We invade your castle to rescue Peach or anyone else in trouble. If anything was destroyed, we didn't mean to ruin your home."

"Say that to Mario when you two deliberately ruined my castles in Dinosaur Land."

"Well, you _did_ invade to kidnap me while we were on vacation, _and_ you trapped Yoshi and his dinosaur friends in eggs that one summer," Peach huffed.

"And for the record, I was against obliterating your fortresses," Luigi added. "Either way, all I can say is to go back home and protect your land. It's better than sitting around and waiting for the impending calamity to finish us all."

Bowser crossed his arms and pondered. "Well, better tell Kamek and Kammy to go heal all of us up before we can even hold the fort down."

"You sure about this, Dad?"

"I have a bone to pick with Mario, but I'll wait when he's actually here. I'll follow your suggestion, Green 'Stache. But just know that I'll come back for a real brawl."

"Fair enough."

"Koopalings!" Bowser reverberated. "We're heading back home! No questions asked!"

The seven slowly got up after their defeat. Based on the tone of his voice, they decided not to talk back to him. An airship flew over to the castle and landed on the grass. Kamek was at the helm.

"Lord Bowser! You have the captives ready?"

Bowser lifted his head to speak with him. "Change of plans. We're going back to Dark Land."

"Excuse me? You want to return?"

"Yes. I'll explain on the way."

"Are you sure?"

"I'm sure," he was losing his patience.

"Whatever you prefer, Master."

"You better save these damn worlds or else," the king pointed a claw at Luigi.

He responded with a small gulp. "I'll try."

Bowser gave him one last look before he led the Koopas onto the ship. After flying away from the Mushroom Kingdom, Luigi took off his cap and wiped his forehead with a sleeve.

"You okay, lad?" E. Gadd asked him.

"Let's just get this over with," he prepared to head off.

"Oh, no," Sonic stopped Luigi with his hand. "Not without me, you're not."

"Sonic-"

"Listen, dude. I'm helping you save Mario and fight Edge. I won't take 'no' for an answer. Plus, I was on bad terms with Mario the last time we actually talked. I want to rescue him so we can bury the hatchet."

Sonic was known to be assertive to do things his way. Luigi didn't want to waste time and argue.

"Fine. You can come with me."

The hedgehog smirked. "Thanks, man."

"I want to join you guys, too," Tails demanded. "I've been with you for a lot as well."

Even though the young fox would be in a risky scenario, he had a strong feeling to trust him. "Okay, Tails. You can help as well."

"Don't worry. We'll get Mario back and defeat Edge."

"What about the rest of us?" Silver questioned.

"I think you can return to Mobius to help your friends defend your planet. The rest can stay here to preserve the kingdom. It's smarter to bring fewer people so not everyone will be threatened by Edge's cruelty."

"It's probably the most ethical decision to make," Peach assented.

"We'll gather any Toads to rally up," considered Toadsworth.

"We might as well return to Station Square now," Shadow urged.

"Don't we need a Power Star to unlock the pipe?" Vector scratched his head.

"I still have mine from earlier," Luigi pulled the shining object out of his pocket. "I can let you borrow it to get back home."

"Nice! Come on, fellas! Let's go stall those robots!"

"Good luck out there, guys," Espio prayed.

"Thanks. We're gonna need it," Sonic winked.

After Luigi unlocked the blue pipe, the Chaotix, Silver, and Shadow entered inside and closed the hatch.

"Luigi." He turned around towards the voice. "Just promise you'll be okay," Daisy told with seriousness and worry.

His face blushed in red, but he didn't seem to care. He took her hands in his and stared into her eyes. "I promise, Daisy."

She desperately pecked his cheek and hugged him tightly. "Please be safe," she whispered into her ear.

Luigi returned the hug and murmured back. "Lo farò, il mio bel fiore." **_(3)_**

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo got in between and tried to cheer them up. The two chuckled, as well as their friends.

"Alright, gentlemen," E. Gadd clapped his hands. "Let's return to my bunker for our final preparations, and then I'll shoot you to Star Hill! The final battle is almost here!"

The green plumber closed his eyes and took a deep breath. Simultaneously, he clenched his fists as a sensation of thunder roamed through his blood and veins. He was more determined to get past this madness.

 _"Mario, please hang on. I'll get you back as soon as possible. Myster Edge, you and Dimentio will NOT win. You will be defeated, this I swear."_

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Luigi is really in a pickle. He'll be entering the Oblivion to confront Myster Edge and whatever will try to hinder him from saving the worlds and finding his older brother. The others must stay behind to defend their homes from the robot invasions, save for Sonic, Tails, and Colombo. How long will this journey take? Can everything return to normal before it all goes to waste? As always, thanks for reading. Feel free to review, follow/favorite, etc. Now for some bad news..._

 _I'm going to be busy for next couple of months as I need to focus on finishing my spring semester. And immediately following that, I will be starting my rotations, which will last for a month. Because this story is almost finished, I'll do my best to complete it before I begin my rotations. However, I may not be consistent with the upload schedule. As for my other stories, New Brotherhood and Revengeful Resistance, I have put them on hiatus as of 3/24. __(I have already explained this in both of them.) I'll have to figure out when I can resume writing these fanfics, but it won't happen for a while. Once I get back, they'll be my top priorities over the summer once I finish HB. If I don't complete it in time, I will also put this story on hold until further notice. I apologize in advance, but I hope you all understand my dilemma. Thank you for your support. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _In Sonic X, Eggman would send an old minion named Bokkun to deliver Television Bombs that displayed video messages to Sonic and his friends. They're generally used to transmit information about his latest plans, threaten him, and/or blow up in their faces as a comical taunt to cause mayhem. This is where I got the idea of how to convey Edge's remark. (No explosions were involved.)_

 ** _(2):_** _In Paper Mario: TTYD, this massive cannon shot Mario to the moon so he could reach the X-Naut Fortress and find the last Crystal Star. I didn't know it had an official name until I searched it up._

 ** _(3):_** _This translates to 'I will, my beautiful flower.'_


	52. Ch 51: Into the Oblivion

_A/N:_ _I want to thank Infinite's Ruby, Tiger of Darkness, and Steel Fairy for their reviews, as well as anyone else who has either added this as a favorite, followed, or just read the story. You guys are the reason to give me motivation to continue writing, to which I appreciate all of you for._

 _But yet again, I have another important note at the bottom, and I'm sorry for it._

 ** _*NOTE: Another PCN is added while the numbers changed, too._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I still don't own the rights to Sonic or Mario to this day. I am not worthy._

* * *

 **Chapter 51:** Into the Oblivion

 _Location: Station Square_

Outside the train station, Amy, Cream, and Cheese finished evacuating the townspeople in the city for the second consecutive day. The robots haven't infiltrated the city yet, but some visitors arrived. Popping out of the warp pipe were Shadow, Silver, Vector, Espio, and Charmy.

"Amy! Look!" Cream tapped her shoulder.

"Oh my goodness! Guys! You're back!"

"And it's been a long time since we're back home," Vector grinned.

"It's all thanks to Luigi. Otherwise, we could've spent the rest of our lives in paintings," Silver sweated.

"Anyways, we're back to help you guys get rid of those robots as soon as they come," said Espio.

"We really appreciate it."

"How's Knuckles, Blaze, and Rouge?" asked Charmy.

"Knuckles is busy on Angel Island. Rouge and Blaze are in Emerald Hill with a few other friends. They also managed to convince Eggman to defend Chemical Plant since his base is still overtaken by Edge's army."

Shadow was unimpressed. "That guy can't even get his lair back?"

"I mean, he's basically powerless by himself, even with Orbot and Cubot, and he was repairing Metal Sonic at the time."

He rolled his eyes. "Figures."

"Hey! More are coming this way!" Cream yelled as she pointed at the sky.

"Chao!" Cheese yelped at the sight of the Shadelings.

"Hmph. Better trash up these fools while we can," the black hedgehog sped off on his Air Shoes.

The others followed him as they reached a street intersection as the robots landed on the ground. One of them shot a laser at Shadow. As he swayed to the side, he performed a spin dash to destroy the enemy. Silver stalled two robots with his telekinesis. Cream and Cheese defeated one while Amy smashed the other with her hammer. Vector, Charmy, and Espio threw some jabs towards a trio of Shadelings. Everyone had their own strategies to fight off these robots as more spawned from the black hole.

"This is gonna take forever!" Charmy complained.

"It was like this yesterday, too!" Cream mentioned.

"What matters is that we prevent them from destroying Station Square like the first time," Shadow huffed.

"That is if it doesn't get consumed by the Oblivion," Vector grunted as he punched a mech with his elbow while another tried to restrain him.

Espio came by to free the crocodile. "Our only hope is to let Sonic, Tails, and Luigi handle Edge. But they need to hurry."

Amy spun her mallet to wipe out a circle of Shadelings that surrounded her. "I really hope they won't fall into a lot of trouble. Especially Sonic."

"If you ask me, I think we should be more worried about Luigi," Silver kicked a robot in the head. The gang tried to endure the time-consuming fight.

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

With Sonic running, Tails flying, and E. Gadd, Colombo, and Luigi riding in the Poltergust 3001, the five raced their way to the heart of the spooky forest. Shadows of the trees and the mansions stretched so wide and long from the sun, but the black hole exhibited a hint of darkness covering the land. The professor screeched to a halt while the Mobians reached the front of his bunker. He quickly got out and unlocked the entrance to let everyone inside.

"The 6000 is fully charged with the maximum number of Shriek Shields. Now you'll be prepared to take on the real Tough Possessor. And while I was gone, Zephyr was busy preparing the cannon to shoot you to the hole above Star Hill."

As they entered the lab, the Greenie was typing away on a keyboard. He paused and gave a cheerful wave to the heroes before resuming his work. E. Gadd detached the charger from the vacuum.

"Here you go, lad."

"Thanks," Luigi slipped the straps over his shoulders.

"So, where's your cannon, Professor?" Tails asked.

"It's stored underground in the backyard of the mansion."

"You put it behind my mansion?" Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"Yes. I didn't have any room on the front lawn, so I managed to use the spacious land after getting rid of some of the trees. Hohoho, at least the wood makes a great source for some warm fires in the winter."

"How exactly will this cannon work?" Sonic put a hand on his hip.

"Right now, Zephyr is setting up the coordinates of the cannon's trajectory. Once it's locked and loaded, the four of you will be launched into the Oblivion. And somewhere inside, the Tough and the last Dark Moon piece are waiting there."

"Don't forget about Edge."

 _"And Mario, too..."_ Luigi pondered.

Zephyr floated over to talk to E. Gadd. He whispered in his ear and addressed his concern.

"Ah, okay. Thanks, Zephyr." He waved his hand to let him leave the room. "He told me that the cannon's coordinates are prepared, but it's currently low on fuel."

"I thought this cannon was new," Tails tilted his head.

"Heh," the professor chuckled in embarrassment and rubbed the back of his head, staring at the floor. "You see, um... When I said it was low on fuel, I rather meant, it doesn't have any in right now."

"Are you kidding me right now?!" Sonic yelled with his hands up. "Why the hell doesn't the cannon have fuel?! Are you trying to waste more time?!"

"Don't worry, boys. Zephyr's got it covered. I'll just look over any other components before you take off."

"You guys better hurry it up."

"I can lend a hand if you want," the fox offered.

"Thanks, Tails."

Sonic and Luigi went over to the table as the others were looking over the main control panel. Colombo hopped over to rest in Luigi's lap. The plumber patted his back, eliciting a soft, congenial whine from him. It was quite awkward and silent in the lab, excluding the keys clicking on the computer keyboard and the whispers between the twin-tailed kit and the old man. As Luigi rubbed the Polterpup's back, he tilted his head back, aimlessly staring at nothing in particular.

"Thinking about something?"

The comment made Luigi turn to the hedgehog who was staring at him with his arms folded on the table.

"Not much."

"What does that mean?"

Luigi bit his lower lip. "It's just..." It was hard for him to put it in words.

"It's about Mario, isn't it?"

He sighed heavily as he slouched.

"Dude, you're not the only one concerned about him."

"Well, Mario's not the only thing on my mind."

"What are you talking about?"

"Remember how I keep getting nightmares involving Edge?"

"Yeah, so?"

"On the day you guys got captured in Sparkling Waters, I went back here to discuss what to do next. As I waited for the girls to arrive, I had a dream where I was in the Oblivion again. Except, there was someone else there with him."

"Dimentio?"

"Not in this dream. He was in all the others, but this figure was different."

"Then who was it?"

Luigi scratched the side of his head before answering. "Mario."

Sonic sat up straight. "Mario? Why was he in your dream?"

"He wasn't normal. He looked demented. Or rather, possessed." The Blue Blur leaned forward to continue listening. "And, Edge ordered him to attack me. He trapped me in a ring of fire before he was about to impale me with a piece of a Dark Shard." **_(1)_**

Sonic's green eyes widened. "You dreamt that?"

He nodded.

"Damn, dude. Well, I'm sure we can save him if he's really in danger. We just gotta hope Tails and the professor can get the cannon running as soon as possible. And everyone knows that I'm not a patient guy."

Luigi couldn't help but smile at his joke, but it faded away immediately as he resorted to ire, thinking about Edge and his plan to manipulate his brother to get what he wants. Colombo looked back to see his owner's troubled face. Letting out a whine, he turned around and placed his paws on his chest. He stared at Luigi with puppy eyes. The plumber softened his expression as he scratched Colombo's head.

"You're not going to be alone in this. Tails, Colombo, and I will help out to rescue Mario, defeat Edge, get those Chaos Emeralds back, and get rid of the Oblivion."

"Thank you, Sonic," he monotonously replied. Luigi knew it wasn't going to be easy. But for this specific mission, or set of missions, he needed to do the one thing he rarely showed throughout this entire adventure: believe in himself.

* * *

 _Location: Star Hill_

With Edge waiting impatiently at the top of the mountain, he stared into his scepter that held the seven Chaos Emeralds. Along with the influence of the Dark Shards that were scattered in a ring around the apex, he could feel the negative, yet strong energy emanating in his body. With this immense power, he can revive Dimentio. However, he preferred to restore his dark soul in the Oblivion once he coaxed Luigi.

Slimmer came up and tapped his shoulder. "Sir, Alpha is returning right now."

Edge turned around to see his main assistant. He landed next to Clawdio and the Tough Possessor, a.k.a. Mario being possessed. As he approached the shadowy man, Slimmer returned to his original spot.

"My lord, I have delivered the message to the green man and everyone who was in Toad Town with him."

"And I presume he understands the circumstances, as well as the consequences?"

"I advised him to listen to your words. However, I cannot assure you that he will follow them."

"What makes you say that?"

"You have tortured him in the past. You captured his friends and his brother on numerous occasions. _And_ you merged Tough to take over his spirit, to which the man is unaware of at the moment. Do you really think he's going to listen to you after all that?"

"He should listen to me. After all, I am the most powerful being on the planet, or rather, the whole universe at this point. Everyone shall bow down to me, and me only! They will listen to me and do my bidding! And that goes for that mustached weakling!"

"He sounds like a worthless, inept president," Slimmer whispered to Clawdio. **_(2)_**

"For once, I agree with you. I'm starting to get tired of his boastful remarks. He's like an annoying sack of shit."

"Should we prepare ourselves now?"

He lowered his head to Alpha. "Yes, let's head on in. I'll be anticipating his arrival. If he's not scared of me, of course."

Clawdio rolled his eyes. He turned over to Mario who stood upright in silence, hands clenched at his sides. He tilted his head back towards Slimmer. "Can't believe I'm saying, but I'm starting to feel bad for the guy."

"The green one or the red one?"

"Both, actually."

Slimmer shrugged but agreed with him. "Can't say I blame you. As much it was cool to see that transformation, I'm starting to regret we did that in the first place."

"Another thing I can agree on."

"Mario," he called the plumber's name rather than the ghost's. "Come this way."

The man sauntered to the villain. In addition to being possessed, Myster Edge forced Slimmer and Clawdio to make adjustments to his attire. He was sporting red, metallic armor on his arms and legs, a shell guard over his abdomen, and rocket boosters under his feet. What made his appearance more ominous was the purple and white aura around him, as well as the pupils in his eyes. Instead of shades of blue, they were tinted in red, looking like he was ready to kill someone.

"Follow me. Alpha, Clawdio, Slimmer, you'll proceed behind us. You'll get your chances to stall Luigi. If you are successful, bring him to me in the deepest depths of the Oblivion. If not, I'll let my new minion handle it. Any questions?"

Slimmer cautiously raised his hand.

"What?"

"If we do get pounced on by the guy again, what are the chances that we'll get another repair before the Oblivion consumes everything, assuming that happens and we stay alive?"

Myster Edge snorted. "We'll see about that."

"What's that supposed to mean?" said Clawdio.

"It means, we'll see about that."

"Gee, that sure cleared things up."

"Just shut up and follow me. This is only the beginning of the end."

Clawdio and Slimmer gave glances before shaking their heads and sighing. Alpha remained indifferent as he waited for Edge and Mario to depart. By then, the Shadow Spirit flew up to the dark hole first. Mario had his rocket boosters to ascend, trailing the purple boss. The other three robots pursued the same route until they were gone.

* * *

Tails and E. Gadd double-checked the cannon after Zephyr announced that he filled up the entire tank with fuel. Everything else seemed to be normal and ready to go. All they needed was an okay sign from the professor. Luckily, it didn't take long to wait.

"Well, gentlemen, with my Eclipse Cannon filled with gas and the coordinates are preset, I believe we're ready to send you guys to Star Hill!"

Sonic jumped out of his seat. "Finally!" he yelled enthusiastically. "Let's get to blasting off!"

Luigi let his Polterpup jump down before he got up to stand next to the hedgehog. He took a moment to remove his hat and wipe some sweat off his forehead.

"Ready, sonny?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," he put the cap back on.

"Alright. I'll activate the cannon from in here. Zephyr will escort you four to the mansion's backyard. There is a mission control booth there as well so Zeph can monitor the shot. If it's successful, he'll report to me immediately."

"Sounds like a plan," Tails nodded.

"And lastly, I don't know if the signal of your 3DS will be strong enough for me to contact you or vice versa. Kind of like those rough calls when you fought Shrewd in the Secret Mine, I might have an extremely terrible connection to reach your end of the call and communicate. Thus, there's a chance I may not be able to pixelate you out of the hole, so I devised a backup plan."

"What is it?"

E. Gadd held up his fingers to give him a moment. Walking over to a shelf, he searched through a cardboard box and grabbed something. He walked back to the heroes who gazed at the device in his hand. It was a pair of Joy-Cons attached to a Grip base. The left Joy-Con was colored in red while the right sheened in neon green. **_(3)_**

"I call it the Emergency Egressor. I programmed this controller to transport up to five people from anywhere in the world to the comforts of my bunker. And the reason I modified it that way is so that the four of you will return alongside Mario once you take him back from Edge."

"That looks very familiar," Sonic inspected it.

"I was going to call it the Site Switcharoo, but it didn't really sound well. Regardless, in order to activate it, everyone must be within a five-foot radius. Press and hold the 'L' and 'R' buttons simultaneously to trigger the warp sequence."

"Is this safe?" Luigi was skeptical. "How long did it take to build this?"

"It took a few hours overnight while everyone was asleep. I finished it before I left for the castle this morning. Unfortunately, I haven't tested it out, and it's only good for one stint. I could've enhanced it to do some test runs and see if it worked, but I figured we won't have a lot of time if I just spent several more hours and make you youngsters linger."

"Then it'll have to do." The professor handed the controller to Luigi who put it in his other pocket. "We better get going now."

Zephyr motioned his way to the front door, waiting for the heroes to leave.

"Good luck, boys. All the best to you."

"Thanks, Professor!" Tails called as he ran out of the lab.

"Don't worry, we'll handle it!" Sonic winked and gave a thumbs-up. He quickly dashed out, following the yellow fox.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped and wagged his tail, his tongue sticking out as he panted. He ran off to catch up to the Mobians.

Before Luigi made his move to leave, E. Gadd laid a hand on his shoulder. "Luigi, I don't mean to sound dubious again, but..."

"Yes, Professor?"

He shifted his glasses and reached a finger near his right eye. Luigi thought he heard him sniffle.

"I just want to let you know that... whatever happens, I'm... I'm always proud of you, Luigi. That is a fact, and don't think otherwise. _Sniff_... Over the past week and a half, you've come so far, a long journey with your friends and some baddies. But... despite those times where you felt you lacked confidence, you've... you have proven yourself to be a brave, young man...

"I don't care what Myster Edge thinks of you or anyone else who bombards you with negativity. Luigi, you have the passion to fight, defend, and persevere. You have the heart to save your brother, your friends, and all of these worlds. You may be the key to fulfilling Edge's dastardly plan, but I believe you can counter him with your powers and abilities...

"Do your best, youngster. _Sniff_... Be the hero you deserve to be."

Luigi was getting emotional from his old friend's speech. He leaned down and gave him a tight hug.

"Th-Thank you, Professor..." he squeezed his eyes, trying to keep his tears at bay.

After a long minute, the scientist let him go. "I better not let your friends wait. I'm stalling unnecessarily."

"It's not your fault, but thanks again. I'll see you later."

"See you soon, Luigi."

Luigi gave one nod before he ran outside the shelter. E. Gadd sighed before he returned to his computer, preparing the launch countdown.

Heading to the back behind his large mansion, he slowed his pace as he lifted his head to see the Eclipse Cannon. It wasn't as large as the Grande Boom, but the sleek design was impressive. Painted in white and made of steel, this cannon was prepared to send him and his friends to Star Hill.

Two gloved hands grabbed the rim of the muzzle as the individual stuck his head out. "Hurry up, Luigi!" Sonic called.

"Oh, Sonic! There you are! Sorry for taking so long."

He shook it off. "Just get in! We're ready to roll!"

Tails was also inside. "The ladder is on the other side. That way you can climb in."

"It'll be a tight squeeze for the four of us, but I think we'll fit!"

"Alright. I'll head up now."

Luigi sprinted to the other side and found the ladder. From a few feet away, Zephyr was in the control unit. He made a noise to get his attention. Luigi looked back and gave the Greenie a small smile. Zephyr waved at him, wishing him good luck.

"Thanks, Zephyr!"

He reached the muzzle of the cannon and carefully slid down the inner wall. Sonic, Tails, and Colombo all greeted him at the bottom.

"I gotta say, I don't think I've ever been shot out of a cannon before. I can't wait!" Sonic made a fist, full of excitement.

"Now all we have to do is wait for the launch," said Tails.

"Ruff!" Colombo barked.

Luigi exhaled and closed his eyes.

Zephyr gave the signal to the professor, notifying that the heroes were ready. Once E. Gadd got the message, he pressed a joystick, pushed some buttons, and pulled a large lever.

"Countdown sequence for the Eclipse Cannon initiated. Path is set towards the Oblivion floating above Star Hill. Launching in T-minus ten seconds. Nine. Eight. Seven."

Inside the cannon, everyone heard the old man counting down from a speaker, waiting for the big boom.

"Almost there!" Sonic was eager.

"Better hold on tight," Tails mumbled.

"Bark!"

 _"I'm coming, bro,"_ Luigi thought to himself.

"Three. Two. One. FIRE!"

The Eclipse Cannon set off a thunderous noise as the four heroes blasted off at such high velocity. A stream of white, yellow, blue, and green flew across from Boo Woods, over the Mushroom Kingdom, to Star Hill.

In the streets of Toad Town, Peach and Daisy were setting up a Toad battalion, still waiting for their first robot invasion. The latter tapped the pink princess on her shoulder.

"Peach, look!"

They caught a glance of them shooting across the sky.

"Luigi, I'm rooting for you!" Daisy shouted at the top of her lungs.

Peach held her hands close to her heart. "Please be careful, Luigi. And please rescue your brother. I want you all to be safe."

While flying in the air, Luigi didn't express any bit of fright. His eyes were planted at the large hole as they came close to it.

"There it is! Get ready!" he shouted.

"We're with you!" Sonic and Tails responded.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo replied.

And within a matter of seconds, they entered the Oblivion, disappearing from the atmosphere. It was the start of their new quest inside the darkness.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Although this chapter is over, I'm still pulling myself through as I'm getting through the last full month of my third year. But ever since I uploaded Ch. 50, I have been so damn stressed, miserable, and angry at myself for personal reasons. I hardly had any time to write this chapter because of my upcoming school schedule, which made it more infuriating. I'm sorry that I'm feeling this way and that I'm letting it out here. I did make a promise to try and finish this as soon as I can. But with the way things_ _are going_ _, it's not looking great. So for future reference, this story will be on hiatus as of this update._

 _I know I won't go back to writing until I'm finished with my spring semester. I'll have to see if I have any free time when I'm on rotations. Otherwise, the next chapter will have to wait until June. I've been really busy the past several weeks, and it doesn't stop there. I hope to see you all as soon as I can, and I'm sorry about the last-second change. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Mario was the mystery character in Ch. 36, the only time he appeared in Luigi's nightmares as an actual foe._

 ** _(2):_** _I'm just going to leave this here, and that's it._

 ** _(3):_** _The Joy-Cons are two controller inputs for the Nintendo Switch, and I implemented them with the Grip accessory. The red color originates from the_ _Super Mario Odyssey_ _bundle (not the neon red that's one of the primary colors in many Switch packages) while the neon green is associated to the_ _Splatoon 2_ _release._


	53. Ch 52: Rally the Troops

_A/N:_ _Oh my god. Thank you all SO much for being patient with this chapter! I'm finally glad that my spring semester is over, and now I can focus on writing again! That is, when I'm not working on rotations..._

 _Anyways, we're getting close to the end. Hidden Bravery will finish somewhere around fifty-five chapters. I have some ideas to include before I wrap things up with an epilogue. Based on how long these next chapters will be, I can't say for sure when I'm close to concluding the story until I format everything in place. Each upload will always be on Monday, but they may not be regularly posted. Regardless, we're getting there!_

 _While I was gone, let me take some time to thank some people. Special shoutouts to Tsukimine12, Steel Fairy, Infinite's Ruby, and Tiger of Darkness for reviewing the previous chapter. Thank you to SpiderDom321 and fan no. j for adding this story as a favorite. And of course, thanks to everyone else, past or present, for reviewing, following, giving a favorite, and reading!_

 _Previously, it was mostly calm before the storm. We saw Luigi, Tails, Sonic, and Colombo enter the Oblivion in pursuit of Myster Edge as the countdown to destruction winds down. But before we actually return to them, this chapter will solely focus on the other heroes, plus some newcomers who will make their cameos in this story. This is just to give them one last moment to be acknowledged before I heavily focus on Luigi's group and their journey inside the Oblivion. So for all you Waluigi fans out there, I hope you're happy, because he's finally making an appearance, fifty-three pages into this craziness. Other members from the Mario and Sonic universes will appear, but they will also be minor._

 _This page also breaks the record for the most PCNs for any chapter of a story on my profile, peaking at eight since most of them explain about the characters I added in._

 _Okay, that's enough rambling from me considering it's been too long since I posted something. So, here we go! Back to_ _HB_ _!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _I don't own anything related to Mario, Sonic, or Waluigi. Myster Edge, my other OCs, and this story are the only things I take credit for._

* * *

 **Chapter 52:** Rally the Troops

 _Location: Angel Island_

Knuckles wasn't alone since the start of the next invasion on the floating island. Several flew to the island to help out the echidna. Those included Big the Cat, his frog friend, Froggy, and Sticks the Badger. **_(1)_** Another team of unlikely heroes arrived, that being the three members of the Babylon Rogues: Jet the Hawk, Wave the Swallow, Storm the Albatross. They all gathered near the temple where they saw Knuckles punching and destroying some Shadelings.

"Oh, boy. This looks like trouble," Big commented in his deep, yet carefree voice. Froggy ribbited in agreement.

"Hmm... Having trouble out here, Knucklehead?" Jet gawped.

"Urgh, now's not the time to make remarks. Sonic, Tails, and I had enough of your cockiness in those races back then. And besides, you lost all of them."

"It's not my fault I'm faster than him!"

"One, that's subjective. And two, that makes no sense."

"Jet, you can race him later once he gets back. We're here to aid Knuckles fend off the robots," Wave reminded him before she flew into the air and slammed into a robot with her feet. "Now come on and help!"

"What's the reward in this?"

"There is no reward, you arrogant seagull," Knuckles grunted, earning an offended look from the green bird.

Storm grabbed two more and crashed their heads together, dismantling them. "Come on, Jet. We can handle them like Eggman's robots."

Jet rolled his eyes. "This is so stupid."

"Come, Jetski," Sticks nudged his shoulder. "You never know what could happen. One second you'll be standing around minding your own business, and then WHAM!" She kicked Jet on his right leg.

"OW!" the hawk brought his leg up, holding his shin and hopping on his other foot.

"You'll fall to the ground, completely defenseless, and the aliens will abduct you! Then they'll strap you to a metal table and dissect your brains out! And they'll eat you alive with the rest of their subjects like a five-course meal!"

Everyone was staring at the orange badger like she was completely psycho. Everyone but Big and Froggy believed that.

Jet, still jumping in pain, hissed at her. "What the hell is wrong with you?"

"It's either that way or the aliens' way."

"There are no aliens. It's a bunch of robots like Eggman's kind, except they're stronger and more dangerous," Wave countered as she kicked another one away.

"Oh yeah? Well, where are these 'robots' coming from?"

"The big, black hole?" Big tilted his head.

"Exactly! Meaning, they're from space. Thus, they're aliens!" she flailed her arms everywhere.

"That's highly ridiculous," Storm looked unimpressed before he belly-flopped onto a set of three mechs.

Knuckles used his namesakes to obliterate two more. "Jet, Sticks, stop standing around and get rid of these idiots!"

By then, Big contributed by reeling in his fishing rod and surprisingly detaching a robot's cranium. Froggy hopped off the cat's shoulder so he could distract the enemies. Sticks followed by flinging her trusty boomerang. While the projectile went flying and hit a line of Shadelings, she quickly grabbed a set of fire arrows and her archery bow. Pulling an arrow back on the string, she let go to let it fling onto one of them. It caused a humongous explosion to destroy that one and a few others nearby. She caught the boomerang with her free hand as it came back to her.

Sticks drew her breath on it as if she was blowing out a candle. "Easy-peasy," she shrugged.

"Showoff," Jet muttered as he stood for a while.

"Stop standing around and do something already," Wave nagged.

Jet was about to run his mouth again before Knuckles interrupted. "Don't try to back sass her. Get moving already!"

He turned to Storm, but he also didn't help his case. "I rather live and race later than die doing nothing."

"Come on, Jet. Don't you want to live in peace and quiet? I don't like fighting, but we don't have a choice," said Big.

"Ribbit!" Froggy croaked.

Jet grunted before he ran up and delivered a couple of punches and kicks to a separate one that shot a laser at the party. The fight was expected to be everlasting, but they weren't going to surrender.

* * *

 _Location: Emerald Hill Zone_

With Blaze and Rouge defending one part of the zone and several volunteers protecting the rest, another duo of allies swooped on by to help. They were Mighty the Armadillo and Ray the Flying Squirrel. **_(2)_** The two stopped in the middle of a grassy plain when they spotted the cat and the bat.

"Blaze! Rouge!" the black armadillo shouted.

"Mighty! Ray! Great to see you!" Blaze waved at them.

"So, what's the plan here?" the yellow squirrel asked them.

"Nothing but a big beatdown against the robots Edge is sending out," Rouge answered.

"You mean the guy you mentioned earlier on the phone call? The one who ruined your friend's birthday?"

"Mm-hmm. And the one who created that black hole that's found in every dimension, world, and piece of existence."

"Shoot. That's really big," Mighty was in awe. "And you said it's only until tomorrow morning almost everything dies?"

"Not _almost_ everything. _Everything_ ," Blaze corrected.

"I got an update from Shadow earlier. He said that he and the others who were trapped in Mario's world are back and they're helping Amy, Cream, and Cheese in Station Square. Tails and Big Blue are staying in the Mushroom Kingdom to help Luigi confront that beast and rescue his brother," explained Rouge.

"Mario, right?"

"Correct."

"That's got to be stressful for Luigi," Mighty pondered. "I can't imagine him suffering for so long, and now he's in another tough predicament. At least Sonic and Tails are helping him. Although, I can't say that I'm not worried for them."

"Sadly, we can't help as we're tasked to defend the other worlds in case they do survive. We just have to outlast these robots so they won't cause much terror," said Blaze.

"Uh-oh. I think they're here," Ray pointed in front of him. The other three turned in that direction to see a horde of Shadelings flying down at them.

"Well, let's get to work. Can't let Emerald Hill fall apart," Mighty clenched his fists in determination.

The heroes split up in their respective groups: Rouge and Blaze on one team, Ray and Mighty on the second. One Shadeling landed near Rouge as he spewed electric orbs at her. Flying away from the attack, she hovered over his head and twirled down quickly like a drill. The heels on her boots penetrated into his noggin to ruin his mechanical circuits. She hopped off quickly and kicked another one who failed to hit her with lasers.

Blaze began to levitate and dodged the second robot's attacks. She responded quickly with her pyrokinesis, scorching multiple limbs. She later found herself surrounded by an army of six. She brandished more fire from her palms. Closing her eyes and holding her hands close to her chest, she spread out her arms to send out a circle of fire to the Shadelings. Before either of them could attack, they disintegrated from the powerful wave.

Mighty's expertise in fighting comes from the same moves Sonic had. He was a bit stronger but definitely not as fast as the Blue Blur. He provided some punches, kicks, and spin dashes to knock out a trio of mechs. He even managed to take one by the legs, spin him around, and throw him into a lake.

Ray's main fighting technique was the traditional Spin Jump. Along with his limited fighting experience, he was not as fast and strong as his armadillo friend. But with his flying mobility, he soared in the air for a brief period and aimed directly at a line of three. The squirrel performed a chain reaction of hits to defeat them one by one.

At a later point, Ray flew down to grab the armadillo's hands in the same way Tails grabs onto Sonic as they flew through the air. At the opportune moment, the squirrel let go his friend so he can finish off another pair of Shadelings.

"Nice going, Ray!" Mighty acclaimed.

"You too, Mighty!" Ray praised back.

"How's it going for you, Rouge?" Blaze asked her from ten feet away.

"Not too shabby," she responded while she destroyed another minion. "Just trying not to let my guard down."

"Let's keep it up, guys! We can't lose faith!" shouted Mighty.

"Right!" the other three yelled back.

* * *

 _Location: Chemical Plant Zone_

Annoyingly for Eggman, it took him until now to finish repairing Metal Sonic due to the lack of tools he had. Metal was reprogrammed to follow his real master rather than Myster Edge, the Possessors, or anyone from the Shadow Spirit's affiliate. His red eyes glowed from the sclera, but at least they didn't seem as deadly as they once were when he fought Luigi and the girls.

"Finally! It's all over now!"

"But, Boss! The end of the world isn't over! We're still here and alive!"

Orbot put a hand to his forehead from Cubot's idiotic comment. Eggman turned to the yellow robot with an unamused look.

"Do you want me to whack you in your thick, blockheaded skull again?"

"Not unless you want to reinstall his voice chip for the third time," Orbot muttered.

Eggman grunted. "Whatever. You get a pass."

"Thank Chaos," Orbot mumbled to himself.

"So, what do we now?" Cubot scratched his head.

"Hmph," the doctor crossed his arms over his egg-shaped body. "Those two told us to watch out for robots coming out of the sky. So far, there hasn't been any here."

"Those two? You mean Rouge and Blaze?"

" _No_ , I'm talking about Mega Man and Dr. Wily!" **_(3)_**

"Really? When did they pass by? How did I miss them?"

"Of course I was talking about those two girls, you imbecile!"

"So, you weren't referring to Dr. Wily and Mega Man?"

"No! Don't you understand the concept of sarcasm?!"

"You mean the way Sonic expresses it to increase your blood pressure and drive you crazy?"

"What else do you think that means?!"

Orbot gave a glance at Metal, who stared back at him with no facial expression (obviously). But if he could show something, he'd think this conversation was going nowhere.

Just then, Metal detected something from his robotic hearing. He rotated around to see some intruders from the black hole. Like the previous locations, a set of Shadelings were in the vicinity. He responded with a sound to get his leader's attention.

"What?" Eggman got his question answered when the robots encircled the quartet in the middle of the arena. "Oh, you got to be kidding me!"

"Was that sarcasm?" Cubot looked up to him.

"Oh, boy," Orbot rolled his eyes.

Metal wasted no time as he faced head-to-head combat. He activated a Ring Spark Field to create an electrical force around his body. He also performed some generic spin jumps and spin attacks to impede their movement and deal electrifying damage. A few robots tested him with punches of their own, but Metal suppressed them with all his strength.

"Aren't you going to do something, Boss?" Orbot asked as he stared at the action.

"Why would I do something? I don't have my Egg Mobile to attack, and you idiots hardly do anything to fight back."

"That's because you never let us fight," Cubot complained.

"Just leave it to Metal. He'll handle it."

"I mean, if you say so. You basically said the same thing every time you send him to fight Sonic, and he always loses."

Thanks to another degrading comment, Cubot earned Eggman's slammed fist to the noggin.

"Aw, come on, boss! We can take down dese idiots easily! It's like stealing candy from a baby!"

" _Sigh_ , ladies and gentlemen, here's Mobster Cubot," Orbot shook his head. **_(4)_** "I tried to convince you not to hit him again."

"Frankly, he deserved it, and you know it."

"Actually, I don't," Orbot gave up as he returned to watching Metal Sonic defend against the enemies.

* * *

 _Location: Yoshi's Island_

Back in Mario's world, everyone was also prepared for any incoming incursions since they haven't started in their homes. Down south of the Mushroom Kingdom was the tropical locale of Yoshi's Island, where the green dinosaur and many others in a rainbow of colors lived happily in peace. If only that peace was sustainable...

Since Yoshi returned to his island, he spread the word to the dozens of Yoshis throughout the isle. He later approached the main hub of the island. Reaching an ancient stone temple in the outskirts of Yoshi's Island, he saw the Village Leader, a green, plump Yoshi with arm bands and a feather on the back of his head. Beside him was Birdo, his pink, platonic partner who he usually paired up with in sports, kart racing, and parties. **_(5)_**

"Village Leader! Are you aware of the news?!"

The dinosaur leader was sitting nonchalantly on a stone ledge. "I did hear the news. Birdo came by when she heard it from one of the Blue Yoshis.

"As soon as I was warned about the big, black hole in the sky, I had to see for myself! And it's actually real!" Birdo pointed in the sky.

"I know!" Yoshi exclaimed.

"What's even happening?"

"It's a long story. But to cut it short, we need to gather the Yoshis to evacuate from their homes, and we need to defend the island from a swarm of robots! I told the Yoshis to prepare for the invasion, and we should do the same!"

"If they end up assaulting the temple, I better get off this stone quickly," the Village Leader hopped off. "I'm going to send some of our strongest Yoshis to prepare an egg onslaught. Yoshi, Birdo, please be careful out there." And soon, he left the temple.

"With the Village Leader defending the temple, we should team up with the other Yoshis and help with the attack," Birdo suggested.

"Good idea!"

They ran down south, whisking past a dense jungle. When they got near the shoreline, tens of Yoshis were building up tons of Yoshi Eggs as their ammunition. Keep in mind, these eggs were for offense. (No Yoshi kids were harmed in the making of this fanfic.)

A yellow Yoshi walked up to them. "Hey! We're still making progress on the ammo. But we also have a team to fight back physically if we're out of eggs."

"Great! We'll do the same as well! Right, Birdo?"

"Right, Yoshi!"

A pink Yoshi ran up to the group. "Everyone! I think the invasion is starting!"

By then, they watched the Oblivion swirl quickly as the Shadelings emerged from the darkness. Floating down to the island, everyone got into position.

"Okay, guys! Let's get 'em!" Yoshi shouted.

"YOSHI!" all the others cheered.

The Shadelings did their part to invade the locale, shooting lasers and trying to harm the citizens. One Yoshi team took cover as several of them threw their colored eggs at the foes. Some easily detonated from the impact while others received minor blows to their bodies. Another group of Yoshis went for the physical strategies, dealing ground pounds and eating them with their tongues. They went above and beyond to trap them in eggs. Before they could escape, the Yoshis whacked them as hard as they could to make them go flying, or they pushed the eggs into the ocean to destabilize them. Either way, those Shadelings were defeated as more spawned from the black hole.

Back at the temple, a score of Yoshis pushed out a wooden catapult with a gigantic, red water balloon. With the Village Leader commanding the twenty-man squad, he ordered everyone to pull back and set the launch angle.

"Okay, Yoshis. On my count. Three, two, one, RELEASE!"

They fired the water balloon into the sky. It was flying towards the Oblivion where the robots were appearing from. Although it wasn't going to reach the hole, it was about to hit several of them. The rest of the impact came from the balloon bursting as the water spewed out, drenching the Shadelings and malfunctioning their circuits. At least thirty went down immediately as they crashed into the waters.

"Let's maintain our approach! We need our village to retain its peace!"

"YOSHI!" the squadron shouted in determination.

Back with Yoshi and Birdo, they teamed up by throwing their eggs at the antagonists. More of them exploded from the hits while others became dazed. At one point, Birdo jumped out of her defensive spot to meet one Shadeling face-to-face. For some reason, the robot was entranced by the pink dinosaur.

"Hello, gorgeous. Would you like a taste of this?" She caught the enemy off guard by slapping him with her tail. She finished off by chucking an egg at him.

"Keep it up, Birdo! We got a long way to go!"

"Don't worry, Yoshi! We got this!"

* * *

 _Location: Kongo Jungle_

Since Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong were notified by the Mushroom Kingdom about Edge's plan, they were getting ready for some new action since their shared fight against the Harsh Possessor and the gigantic tree monster. Fueling up with bananas for energy, they were soon greeted by the other Kongs: Dixie, Cranky, and Funky. **_(6)_** The five primates gathered around the table inside the treehouse.

"Hi, DK! Hi, Diddy!" Dixie Kong screeched.

"Hey, guys! Glad you made it here!" Diddy replied.

"We got your message about those crazy robots and the big black hole in the sky! What exactly is the big deal?" Funky Kong queried.

"Do you want the short version or the long version?" DK asked.

"Keep it short, whippersnapper. I don't have all day," Cranky scratched his back with his cane.

"So we're told that the villain is waiting for the black hole to destroy everything. As an extra distraction, his robots were going to spawn from the holes that are found throughout the kingdom and even in Sonic's world!"

"While Luigi is going after the bad guy behind this, we have to at least protect our home in case he defeats him and save the worlds!" Diddy finished his explanation.

"Do you know how long it will take?" Dixie wondered.

"At most, we have less than a day before everything could be gone. It'll be tough to hold off those buffoons for a long time as we have to wait for Luigi and his friends to stop all of this."

Cranky looked pessimistic. "How do you know that green fellow will take care of things properly?"

Diddy and DK looked at each other before the latter responded. "That's the problem. We don't know for sure. But don't underestimate him. We've seen him fight well back then!"

"Yeah! It was against a tree giant! And we helped out!"

"I was wondering where those destroyed trees came from. I was walking through the jungle, and there were tons of these burnt tree trunks piled up on top of each other," said Funky.

"At least it's all cleaned up," Dixie smiled.

Just then, a vibration shook the treehouse with everyone losing balance. They held on tightly before they exited to the platform.

Cranky Kong tapped DK on the shoulder with his stick. "I think they're here."

The Kongs all looked up to the sky to see the Oblivion swirl. Concurrently, Edge's underlings flew from the expanse and into the jungle.

"Let's get to smashing!" Donkey Kong pounded his chest and jumped down. Diddy, Dixie, Cranky, and Funky followed him to get into position.

The opposing side typically went for the main offensive: shooting beams at the heroes. Cranky and Funky teamed up with the elder ape whipping his cane to knock one of the Shadelings into another, causing them to fall into a dogpile with a few others. Funky got on his surfboard to jump on their hands. The bottom of his board shielded him from the lasers below. They continued their chain reactions as more robots flew from the Oblivion.

"Yeah! Take that, you buffoons!" Funky yelled.

"Hrrgh! You think I'm too old to fight, but that's where I'll prove you obnoxious mech-heads wrong!" Cranky grumbled.

Diddy and Dixie relied on their agility to climb the trees and sneak a surprise attack. They clambered onto their bodies and angled their guns to shoot at each other. After they got destroyed, the two chimps did the same for the remaining enemies.

"Yah! Getting tired, Diddy?"

"Ookie! Not at all, Dixie! We're doing great!"

Donkey Kong boasted his power by slamming the Shadelings into the dirt with his fists. He also revved up his arm to punch one out of the jungle. The large ape didn't show any loss of stamina or strength as he baffled the robots with his power.

"HROO! You can't beat me or any of us! Now get out of here!" DK howled before sending another minion a massive punch to the face.

* * *

 _Location: Bowser's Castle_

By the time the airship landed in the hangar, Kamek led Bowser, Bowser Jr., and the seven Koopalings to the large infirmary in the east wing of the fortress. Prior to their return, the Magikoopa called Kammy to brew a healing potion to restore their health after the damage Luigi caused from his Thunderhand. **_(7)_**

Last time when it was just Bowser and his son being injured by Edge, Kamek preferred to let them heal slowly through time as magic was considered ineffective. But at this stage, there was no time to wait. So, he went to desperate measures, even if it negates his former statement. He also told Kammy to guide the underlings to set up a battle plan once the Shadelings enter Dark Land.

To this point, Bowser still held a grudge against the younger Mario brother. And he wasn't too thrilled on defending his castle from Edge's troops. But since he and the Koopas had no choice, unless they wanted to perish, they had to follow Luigi's advice. They had to at least try to keep the castle safe from being destroyed in the case the Oblivion goes away and Edge is defeated. That way, most of the castle would be preserved, and they wouldn't have to rebuild a whole lot.

The ten Koopas reached the facility where the purple-robed mage was adding some ingredients to a cauldron. When Kammy heard the door open, she spun around to greet them.

"Ah, Master Bowser. You have returned with Master Kamek and the children."

"Whatever. Do you have the potion ready?"

"It needs another minute until the status effects are completely dissolved."

"What did you put in it?" Iggy asked.

"A variety of Mushrooms, some white meat from the leftover drumsticks Lord Bowser had for dinner yesterday, a splash of syrup, and some Refreshing Herbs."

"It's not going to taste cough medicine, will it?" Jr. stuck out his tongue in disgust. "Bleh, I hate cough medicine."

"Oh, suck it up, Jr. You're not the one who had to drink some because _someone_ gave me the flu for two weeks," Wendy huffed while shooting a dagger at Larry.

"Hey, I said I was sorry that I sneezed into your face! You should've kept your distance away from me!"

"You know, the kid's got a point," Roy responded, only to earn a glare from her, too. "What? You actually should've known better to stay away from sick people."

"Pfft," Wendy scoffed.

"Is almost done yet?" Lemmy was getting impatient.

"Another fifteen seconds," Kammy stirred the contents once more.

"I'll go get some cups to pour the potion in," Kamek offered.

"Thank you."

As soon as Kamek came back, Kammy took her ladle and scooped up the potion into the cups.

"Drink slowly, now. You don't want to accidentally choke."

"I'm pretty sure she's referring to you," Ludwig whispered to Morton.

"Urgh, shut up. It's not my fault I can work up an appetite."

The Koopas quenched themselves from Kammy's remedy. Most of them seemed to have their injuries cured, as if they weren't hurt from the thunder. Others took a while, so they received another cup's worth. Bowser was getting frustrated that he wasn't feeling alright, so he grabbed the pot and chugged the remaining liquid.

Kammy started panicking like she was his mother. "King Bowser! A single cup or the whole pot, I told you to drink slowly!"

"Oh, can it, Haggy! That green-hatted loser gave me a beating I want to forget! And since I'm forced to listen to him, I need to be better and stronger now!"

"Jeez, Dad. Take a chill pill," Jr. showed concern.

The slam of the infirmary doors caught everyone's attention. A Hammer Bro ran up to them.

"Lord Bowser! We caught first sight of the robots from the black hole!"

Bowser grunted. "Alright. Head back to your post." The Hammer Bro nodded and sprinted out the room. "Kamek, Kammy, and Jr., follow me to the front gate. We'll take on those idiots early on. Koopalings! Get your wands and head outside to the front."

"Yes, Dad!" the Koopalings shouted, full of vigor from the medicine. They ran to their private bedrooms to retrieve their weapons.

Meanwhile, Bowser and his son called for their Koopa Clown Cars while Kamek and Kammy hopped on their broomsticks. Flying to the front entrance, the four Koopas made it outside. They first witnessed the Koopa Klan taking part in combat. Koopas, Goombas, Koopatrols, and many others were trying to stop the Shadelings from infiltrating the castle.

Bowser made his move to let out his infamous fire breath. The burning effect caused the robots to overheat and detonate. Bowser Jr. spewed out small fireballs and released spike balls from the mouth, crushing their heads and feet. Kamek and Kammy whipped out spells from their wands to disable and hinder their movement.

The seven Koopalings all reached the front with their wands, too. Just like the Magikoopas, they used their magic against the Shadelings. Everyone had their own chant or battle cry as they released their powers. Obliterating the robots one by one, the Koopas were doing all they can to defend the stronghold.

"This better work or else. You better beat that purple creep, Luigi," he mumbled, actually calling him by his name.

* * *

 _Location: Toad Town_

With the Toad army ready, Peach and Daisy were ready to direct the troops while they became prepared themselves to fight back. Toad and Toadette decided to help while Toadsworth chose to take control of defending the castle with the other Toad helpers. They also got reinforcements coming their way. Even though their relationship with the Mario Bros. and the princesses were not on friendly terms, Wario and Waluigi arrived when they were told they would receive a small reward. **_(8)_** The obese, yet muscular man and the skinny, agile partner ran to the castle grounds to meet with the royal leaders.

"Alright, where's the reward? We didn't come here for nothing," Wario greedily demanded.

"Yeah! Give us our loot now!" Waluigi sneered.

Daisy rolled her eyes. "Why did you invite these lunatics?"

"I had to, Daisy!" Peach replied. "They have a right to know what's going on. The same thing applied to Bowser, and Luigi handled it even though it was a bit rough back there."

"Ugh, fine. You'll get something later on. We're not giving you anything right now though."

"Ehh, why not?" Waluigi crossed his arms.

"Yeah, what's the big deal? We'll help you out with whatever you need," Wario insisted.

"And that's what you're going to do. Because if you don't help defend the Mushroom Kingdom, chances are we're going to perish, regardless if Luigi stops Myster Edge!"

"By the way, where is that little, green brat? And who's Myster Edge?"

"Watch what you say, Waluigi. There are plenty of reasons why I prefer him over you!"

"Oh, come on, cutie. What's not to love about me? I'm much more taller and less chubby than him and anyone else wearing the hat, shirt, and overalls combo," he tried to flirt with her. The look on her face showed that it wasn't working.

"Eh, what's that supposed to mean? You trying to make fun of my weight again?" Wario placed a finger on his chest.

"I'm just saying I'm better looking than all three of you. Even I'm more handsome than Mario, which I don't understand why Ms. Pinky admires him." Waluigi didn't notice, but Peach shot a glare at him. She wasn't the kind of person who gets mad that easily. But you wouldn't expect her to be happy and lighthearted at anyone who disrespects her and her friends.

"Waluigi, I can just take back the reward option for both of you. You don't have to fight at all either. In fact, I liked it better when you greedy bastards weren't here."

"Come on now, princess. We can handle things easily."

"Yeah, baby, come on. Let's take things slowly and seriously," Waluigi tried to place a hand on her shoulder, only for it to get slapped. "Ouch!"

"Get your filthy hands away from me, you creep!"

"Hey! Don't hit him like that!"

"I can do the same thing to you, tubby!"

"Enough!" The three turned to see Peach who was anything but calm. It was quite unnatural for her to burst out in anger. "We have a job to do here, and that's to protect our kingdom. I'm not doing this for myself. I'm doing this for everyone. And you guys are throwing tantrums like a bunch of immature kids! Can you please clean up your act and stop arguing? Edge's robots could attack at any minute, and they could easily vanquish us if we don't act properly!"

Daisy, Wario, and Waluigi all stared at each other before they decided to end this dilemma and work together just this one time.

"Sorry, Peach. And I'm sorry for what I said, you guys," Daisy grudgingly apologized.

"Eh, I'm sorry as well," Wario returned the same, unappreciative feeling.

"Same here," Waluigi grumbled.

Peach wasn't pleased with the lack of emotion, but it's for the best to take it and move on. Just then, Toadette ran up to Peach with a vital update.

"Princess Peach! I think it's our turn now!"

They all saw a group of robots exiting the Oblivion. Heading to the central part of the town, Peach was ready with the help of Daisy, the Toad guards, and their... yellow and purple acquaintances.

"Alright, everyone. We have to wait until Luigi can bring back Mario and stop Edge. Let's hold off them for as long as we can. Is that clear?"

Waluigi nodded his head, cracked his knuckles, and got into a fighting pose. "Let's get 'em!"

Wario went with the flow, flexing his large muscles. "We'll pulverize those wimps."

"Lead the way, Peach!" Daisy yelled.

The five reunited with Toad and the other denizens who were already busy throwing punches, jabbing their spears, and blocking the enemies' attacks with their metal shields. Toad and Toadette stuck to physical attacks and supplying Mushrooms to anyone who needed extra health. Wario and Waluigi pulled out a large sack with their tennis rackets and a bunch of Bob-ombs that were ready to explode.

When Toad noticed this, he dropped a bead of swat. "You better be careful with those."

"Don't worry, Mushroom Top. We're not gonna throw them at you or the others," Waluigi rolled his eyes.

"I don't trust you, but I'm just going to ignore that."

Waluigi shrugged as he and Wario each threw a Bob-omb in the air and whacked them with their rackets. The bombs began to blink red from the contact. By the time it hit two of the robots, they detonated on impact. They made sure their aim was on point without injuring any of the Toads or the princesses on accident.

Peach and Daisy went with their typical strategy of combat, by using their parasols and their special magic to prevent them from causing severe damage. As Daisy whacked a foe, Peach would stall a Shadeling with her Heart Power and send him off to a far distance. They switched roles as Daisy utilized her Flower Power to throw disturbing petals and block their eyesight as her partner had her turn to brawl.

Everyone was consistent, and none of them felt tired or famished thanks to the Mushrooms that restored their energy and strength.

At one point, Peach hid behind a building to catch her breath. Daisy followed behind her to do the same. "I really hope Luigi and the others can save Mario," she said.

"Same here, Peach. We just gotta keep this up. We can't let ourselves down easily, and we can't let Luigi down either! I know I won't."

Peach had to smile at her friend's confidence. "You're right. I'm nowhere close to giving up now. It's either do or die from here on out."

"We better get back. We don't want to let the others do all the work."

"I'm with you, Daisy! Let's go!"

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I hope this chapter wasn't too stale since all the fights against the Shadelings were generally the same. I just wanted to give everyone screen time, including the newcomers. Next time on_ _Hidden Bravery_ _, we will return to Luigi and the gang inside the Oblivion. They, too, will have to defeat some more robots, specifically Edge's main subordinates._

 _Thanks again for reading and for waiting on this chapter! If you enjoyed it, please review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you in Ch. 53! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Sticks is mostly known in the Sonic Boom spinoff. However, she was playable in Mario & Sonic at the 2016 Rio Olympic Games, so that's why I added her in with Big and the Babylon Rogues._

 ** _(2):_** _Mighty and Ray debuted in the arcade game_ _SegaSonic the Hedgehog_ _in 1993. They have returned to be playable in_ _Sonic Mania Plus_ _, which is why I wanted to add them as guests._

 ** _(3):_** _I made this reference because there was a crossover between Sonic and Mega Man in the Archie Comic arc known as_ _Worlds Collide_ _._

 ** _(4):_** _This is another phase Cubot had where his voice chip was altered, most notably recognized in_ _Sonic Colors_ _. I tried my best to fit the context, even if it's just a few sentences._

 ** _(5):_** _The Yoshi Village Leader appeared in_ _Paper Mario_ _, who is the leader of the Yoshi clan residing in Lavalava Island. Even though Yoshi's Island is not his main habitat, I wanted to include him for this section. Birdo debuted in_ _Super Mario Bros. 2_ _and made appearances in most Mario spin-offs, such as_ _Mario Kart_ _,_ _Mario Party_ _, and various sports games. She was originally going to be part of the main cast, but I scrapped her out because I couldn't find a way to fit her into the plot._

 ** _(6):_** _I wanted to implement Dixie and Cranky since I mentioned them way back in the story. Funky Kong was added since he was announced to be a playable character for the Nintendo Switch port of_ _Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze_ _._

 ** _(7):_** _Like Cranky and Dixie, I mentioned Kammy earlier, but she never got an appearance until now. She was the main follower of Bowser in_ _Paper Mario_ _and_ _Paper Mario: TTYD_ _._

 ** _(8):_** _And there's the moment some people have waited for: Waluigi Time! And also, Wario... But no one cares about him as much as the former. Just like Birdo, they aren't significant characters for the same reason, along with the fact they have a rivalry between the Mario Bros., which would have made the first several chapters hard and awkward to write._


	54. Ch 53: Shutting Things Down

_A/N: If any of you know how to manually change the order so that Luigi would be first in the cast instead of Mario without being in a pairing, please send me a PM on how to do so. I'd appreciate it. Just ignore what I wrote here initially._ _Regardless, let's get right back into_ _HB_ _!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _Mario and all the other characters/content from that property are owned by Nintendo. Sonic and the characters from that franchise are owned by Sega. I only take credit for the story idea and my OCs._

* * *

 **Chapter 53:** Shutting Things Down

 _Location: The Oblivion_

While their friends and enemies were defending the many areas on their home planets, Luigi, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo made their way into the large black hole that rose above Shooting Star Summit. Through an everlasting portal of swirling colors, the four flew for so long that they later saw a light at the end.

"I think we're almost there!" Tails shouted.

"Finally! Time to show Edge and his lame bots a piece of our minds!" Sonic determinedly grunted.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo barked.

Luigi remained silent as he embraced the entrance to whatever was behind the light. Moments later, the heroes passed through. As they fell towards land, Tails spun his tails to decrease his flying speed. Sonic skidded his shoes against the surface, coming to a complete stop in a few seconds. Colombo used his paws to prevent himself from sliding. Luigi performed a somersault. He was about to land perfectly on his feet, but his momentum carried him forward. His right shoe ended up hitting something.

"OW! WHOA!" He tumbled to the ground and landed roughly on his front side.

Sonic sped over while Tails hovered towards the fallen plumber.

"You okay, Luigi?" the kitsune asked.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Why does this always happen to me?"

"Don't know, man. If it's bad luck, it sucks to be you."

Luigi gave Sonic a small glower. He turned back to see what he tripped over. Colombo was inspecting by walking around it in circles and sniffing the traces.

"What do you know? It's a pile of Dark Shards."

"Didn't you say the fake Tough Possessor had one of those when you were fighting him?" Tails looked up to Luigi.

"Yeah. It wasn't until after the guys and I defeated him out on the Terrace, with the help of Duplimore and Duplicit, of course. The real Tough Possessor has to be here somewhere."

"Speaking of that, where exactly are we?" Sonic searched his surroundings.

Luigi, Tails, and Colombo mirrored him and got a view of what was around them. To their surprise, they were standing at the peak of a large hill. But this wasn't just any ordinary hill. This location was none other than the top of Shooting Star Summit. Except, everything was made up of purple, glowing material. The ground, the rocks, the entire structure... _Everything_ was an exact replica, with a different twist. The backlight for the sky was nothing but a bunch of purple and black glitches and clouds, similar to the inside of the Void when Luigi, Mario, and the other heroes encountered Castle Bleck.

"Eerie..." Tails mumbled. "We're on top of Shooting Star Summit."

"But how could that be?"

"Hey, Sonic? I don't think you were with us at the moment. But, do you remember that time in the Trophy World when Tabuu turned the heroes into trophies inside Subspace?"

The hedgehog gave him a questionable stare. "Yeah..."

"And later, he used the worlds that were lost from the Subspace Bombs and combined them together to form the hellish labyrinth we all know as The Great Maze?"

Sonic rolled his eyes. "Oh, yeah. _That_ maze. And you were right, I wasn't with you guys until I came last second to ruin Tabuu's party."

"Well, speaking of that, I have a feeling that Edge has done something similar to what Tabuu did."

"And what's that?" Tails asked.

"This is a hunch, but I bet he replicated all the sites that have the Oblivion floating above. Here, Toad Town, Evershade Valley, even the places on Mobius."

"Oh no! Don't tell me we have to traverse through another maze!"

"I don't think it's a maze this time. Look." Out in the distance, Luigi spotted and pointed his finger towards a faraway location.

"Hey, that's Princess Peach's Castle!" Tails acknowledged.

"A duplication of her castle," Luigi corrected. To elaborate, the entire castle was purple and made up of the same material as the Dark Shards. "But from here, I'm sure it's the exact same distance from here, just like in the actual Mushroom Kingdom. If so, then we can at least know where everything is if the geography is alike. We just have to get used to the physical layout."

Speaking of the shards, tons of them were scattered around the peak of the hill, similar to the ring Edge's robots laid out on the actual mountain. Some were even found down below and throughout the land as far as their eyes could see. Each and every pile was glowing with a strong sensation.

"Hmm... It doesn't look like Edge or his underlings are here. They may have gone to another location. The question is, where did they go?" Tails put a hand to his chin.

Luigi opened up his 3DS in hopes of picking up a signal of the Tough Possessor. He almost forgot the Parascope function on his device. Unfortunately, there was nothing available on the screen other than a faulty map of the region. Static and buzzing was heard from the speakers, and it was tough for Luigi to discern their current location, even though the layout of this world was basically identical to the real Mushroom Kingdom.

"I don't have a clue," he finally said. "My 3DS isn't picking up anything."

"And our new communicators were taken away. Plus, I didn't have time to make new ones for us."

"Then we'll have to stick together and hope we don't separated once again."

"Hey, do you see what I see?" Sonic got up on the tips of his toes, raising a hand and holding it over his eyes like he was searching for something out in the sea. Except he wouldn't be doing that near water, of course.

"What is it, Sonic?" his little brother asked.

"There's something happening near the front of the castle."

Luigi scrutinized to the best of his ability, and he barely managed to notice what Sonic saw. However, it was hard to tell what was down there from afar. He could see a few things moving, but that was it.

"We better take a closer look then. If you somehow see any ghosts, don't hesitate to tell me. I've got the Poltergust ready."

"Hey, Luigi?"

"Yeah?"

Sonic pointed behind and shouted, "GHOST!"

"WAAAHHH!" Luigi jumped in the air and landed back on the ground. He turned around and saw nothing behind.

"HAHAHAHA!" Sonic lost it as he guffawed. However, Tails and Colombo didn't find it humorous at all. The fox gave him a disappointing frown, not that Sonic noticed since his eyes were shut and tears of amusement came out.

Luigi, irritated about his hoax, shifted his head to glance at the hose of his Poltergust 6000. He thought for a second. He later grabbed it and turned on the suction power. He aimed the hose at the Blue Blur. Surprisingly, as Sonic barely felt the air on his back, his back quills got caught into the nozzle. He immediately stopped laughing.

"Whoa! Hey! What are you doing?!"

Luigi deathly stared at him before expelling him with the blowing function. **_(1)_** Somehow, he was sent all the way down to the base of the purple summit.

"AAAH! OOF!"

"Come on. Let's meet him down there," Luigi descended the rocky steps. Colombo followed him while Tails took the short route and simply flew down to where Sonic landed.

"Ow..." Sonic groaned.

"Here, I got you," Tails grabbed his hands to help him stand.

"Urgh... What the heck was that for?!" he dusted his shoulders and body.

"Well, to be honest, you decided to pull a jape on Luigi. And it was neither funny nor was it cool to do it in the first place."

"Hey, whose side are you on?"

Tails wasn't happy with his response. "The side of justice, equality, and safety first."

"And like _that_ was safe for him to do that to me?"

"Sonic, we're less than twenty-four hours away of potentially expiring at the hands of Myster Edge and Dimentio who he's planning to revive. He's already got Mario captive, and he could do much worse to him, us, and Luigi than what's he done in the past. And speaking of our friend, did you really think he'd appreciate a jump scare at this time?"

He finally understood Tails' point. "No, I guess not."

"And that's why he reciprocated. It's just like you and Mario back at the Evershade bunker, except Luigi wasn't bickering with you. Instead, you pulled a mean joke, and he wanted to teach you a lesson known as karma. You need to know when to draw the line between right and wrong."

Sonic sighed. "Yeah, you're right, Tails. That's why you're usually my voice of reason. I'm sorry."

"I'm not the one who you should be apologizing to," Tails slanted his head towards Luigi who made his way to the bottom of the summit. They both saw how angry he was.

"Listen, Luigi, I really didn't mean to scare you like that. I was only kidding. So if I hurt your feelings, then I'm sorry."

Luigi closed his eyes for a second and inhaled deeply through his nose. After exhaling and opening his eyes, he responded, "I accept your apology, but my feelings weren't hurt. I just don't want us to waste any more time right now."

"I understand. We better head over to the castle."

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo began to run as the other three followed him.

* * *

By the time they reached the outskirts of the Toad Town replica, the quartet found out what was going on. The front doors of Peach's Castle were open as a conveyor belt from the inside extended over the bridge. On the moving belt, many robots were being transported onto separate pathways, each ending with a white portal. To be specific, the robots were copies of Edge's army of Shadelings.

"So that's how Edge is distributing the robots from the Oblivion to our worlds. I bet each of those portals leads to a different hole. And they're endlessly going to keep being conveyed to keep our friends distracted as they try to terrorize our homes," Tails deduced.

"I was beginning to wonder how they even appeared from the holes in the first place," Sonic shook his head in disbelief. "Now I see why."

"Edge must have somehow constructed these duplicate worlds to be held inside the Oblivion. And in the meantime, he had the time and power to make this as a factory. This reminds me of the time Mario entered one when he fought Smithy. **_(2)_** Man, that was a long time ago," Luigi exhaled.

"Wasn't that factory making duplicates of bosses he faced?"

"Yep. And it looks like Edge is doing the same thing, only with the Shadelings. So far, I haven't seen his superior ones in quite a while. There's Alpha, the main one."

"And Slimmer, Clawdio, even Rocco who ambushed me," Tails shuddered as he reminisced.

"Then there was Scythe and Proto that the girls and us faced when we tried to rescue you two with Mario and the others from Sparkling Waters. Now that I think about it, Edge didn't have a lot of unique minions."

"Yeah. They're pretty generic and as strong as Egghead's Badniks and Crabmeats," Sonic huffed.

"At least those robots don't look active right now. They must be once they're sent to the worlds though," Tails thought.

"Arf! Grr!"

"What is it, boy?"

Colombo directed his friends at someone who was entering the factory. It was a Shadeling he and Luigi knew quite well since they first saw him in the Vanilla Dome caverns.

"Slimmer..."

The chrome robot gazed at his surroundings to make sure he wasn't being eavesdropped. At one point, he thought he saw someone at the top of a hill. He shook his head rapidly and had to do a double take. The second time he looked, there wasn't anyone within his eyesight.

"Weird. Could've sworn I saw someone. Oh, well. I doubt that the green guy has come here already. But if he did, I wonder if he'll really take down Edge at this point. Ah, what am I saying? Of course the boss is going to win and rule the universe."

Slimmer stopped talking to himself and headed inside the castle. Sonic and Tails snuck their heads over a Dark Shard pile.

"Is the coast clear?" the fox wondered.

"Looks like it," Sonic stood up.

Colombo resurfaced from his invisibility powers with Luigi. The Polterpup growled with his teeth visible.

"Easy, cagnetto. If it's any start, we might as well sneak inside without trying to get caught. It's probably better if we go to the backyard garden and enter from there."

"And what if we do get caught?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Then just go ham."

"Now that's what I'm talking about!" Sonic got himself ready and raced down the incline.

"And there he goes again," Tails followed pursuit to chase his friend.

Luigi and Colombo glanced at one another before nodding and rushing down as well.

Inside the castle, the factory had an automatic assembly line to construct the legs, bodies, and heads of the Shadeling copies. As tons of them were produced within seconds, they were distributed to the conveyor belt that led to the portals outside. Slimmer made his way past the lobby. He went up to the second floor and stopped at the room that would've been Peach's chambers. The chrome android knocked twice before entering inside. There, a large computer running the operations of the apparatus was activated and manned by Clawdio.

"So, Claw Man, how's it going for you?"

Clawdio stopped what he was doing and extended his arm to grab Slimmer over his thin physique. "Don't call me that, you skinny weirdo." He let him go.

"Geez, don't need to act so rude."

The orange mech shifted his head back to the computer. "What's gotten you in such a good mood? Before we came here, it's like we were on the same page. Now you're back to your goofy self who wants our leader to be successful despite him being a self-centered jerk."

Slimmer shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just thinking how cool Edge would be if he ended up getting all that power after the worlds are gone."

"You do know he doesn't care about us. All he cares about is taking control, reviving Dimentio, and killing the green guy."

"True."

"And, he's making us fight him once he comes here."

"Right."

"Plus, he doesn't seem too keen to repair us if we fail again."

"I understand that."

"So much for the new claw I was given."

"Oh, come on. Don't be so pessimistic."

"I'm not pessimistic. I'm realistic. I'm telling you, that plumber has gotten stronger and braver as time went on. He probably hit a breaking point after he conquered Overset. Since Edge has been manipulating him by separating his friends, and more importantly, his older brother, he has nearly been unstoppable. And chances are, we're going to experience our last several minutes since the boss is careless enough to leave us for dead with the rest of the universe."

"But who knows? Maybe we can stop the dude, and the boss will actually praise us for doing our job."

Clawdio shook his head. "You are very ambiguous, you know that?"

"No, I'm right-handed."

He facepalmed at another one of Slimmer's idiotic replies. "I didn't say _ambidextrous_. I said _ambiguous_."

"So? What's the difference?"

"You're imposs-"

Clawdio was interrupted by a loud, booming sound. It was like a crack of lightning. Or rather, _thunder_. They ran out of the room and to the lobby. There, they saw Sonic and Tails spin dashing and wrecking the assembly line of Shadelings.

"Hey! Get out of here!" Clawdio yelled at them.

"Yeah! What he said!" Slimmer added.

Sonic skidded on his feet and turned around to see the two underlings. He smirked and made a run at them. Slimmer and Clawdio were caught off guard as he attacked them in the front. They went flying back several feet until Tails flew over to slap both robots with his namesakes. As they screamed, they went back and forth between the Inseparable Duo like a match of tennis. Sonic intentionally missed as he allowed Slimmer and Clawdio crash into a wall.

"Fifteen-love," Tails announced.

"Heh, that's the only time I don't mind losing."

The two continued their job to prevent more robots from entering the portals. Meanwhile, Luigi and Colombo were invisible thanks to the latter. This was Luigi's idea in the first place. After infiltrating through the back door, Sonic and Tails went straight to the foyer. Luigi then used his Thunderhand to freak the robots and coax them out. He let his friends handle them as he and Colombo roamed the corridors to find a way to shut down the machines. They emerged in front of the open door and inspected the large workstation.

"Golly. Edge and his minions really know how to use technology for evil purposes. Just like Eggman and E. Gadd. Except, the professor isn't on the side of malice."

The Polterpup made a small sound to get his owner's attention. He pointed his paw at a large handle in the top position with a 'ON' label in red letters.

"Then again, the design to operate it isn't complex. Oh, well. Easier job for us."

"Ruff!"

Luigi grabbed the handle and pulled it down. However, it didn't budge an inch. He used both hands to add force, but the lever remained still.

"Okay. This is more difficult than I thought."

The Italian glimpsed at the screen. He sat down in the chair and began typing on the keyboard to try and override the switch. It was safeguarded by a password. He tried typing stuff that sounded cliché yet stupid for an enemy like Myster Edge to use.

"I'm awesome," he typed.

"Password denied," the computer sent an automated voice.

"I'm powerful."

"Password denied."

He then thought of stuff related to Edge. "Shadow Spirit."

"Password denied."

"Chaos Heart."

"Password denied."

"Dimentio."

"Password denied."

Luigi was getting tired and searched for clues on the desk and in the drawers. When he couldn't find anything, he got frustrated. Then, Colombo barked when he saw something by the man's feet. A small slip of paper was on the floor. Luigi picked it up, turned it around, and read what was written. He narrowed his eyes, much to the confusion of the ghost dog. He turned back to the monitor and typed in the password box one more time.

"Password accepted."

 _"Quel stronzo,"_ he swore in his thoughts. **_(3)_** He got up from his seat and slammed the paper on the desk. He went over to the handle and pulled it to the 'OFF' position.

Back in the lobby, Sonic and Tails saw the machines power off. The inactivated Shadelings became disabled and fell apart off the conveyor belt. The portals outside disappeared, too.

"Nice! Looks like Luigi and Colombo did their part. And nice fighting, bro," Sonic gave his friend a fist bump.

"Heh heh! You too, Sonic!"

Upstairs, Luigi exited the room without saying anything. Colombo took a peek at the paper.

It read: 'Password: LUIGI SUCKS. (No spaces, capital letters) Devised by Myster Edge.'

"Stupid password. If you're going to create one based on me, make it less insulting. You might as well have named me 'Player 2' or 'Green Mario'. But to add the second word in there, ugh... I'm getting sick of him one too many times."

Luigi went to the first floor as Colombo caught up to him. Sonic and Tails managed to see him in a rough mood.

"Hey, Luigi! Colombo! Great job shutting this place down!" Sonic winked.

"Yeah. You, too," he replied unenthusiastically.

He frowned. "What's got you down in the dumps?"

"Nothing," he dismissed Sonic.

"Are you sure?" the kit furrowed his eyebrows.

Luigi ignored Tails' question when he saw Slimmer and Clawdio getting up. The orange underling stretched his arms out at the hedgehog and fox. Acting on impulse, Luigi flipped the switch on the Poltergust and shot two Shriek Shields at his partners. Clawdio's hands were deflected off the barriers, causing him to vibrate from the impact.

"Ow! He did it again!"

"Did what again?" Slimmer looked at him.

"Oh, forget that! Might as well do our job, not like it's going to last long."

"Well, duh. We're gonna wipe the floor with your faces," Sonic teased.

Clawdio rolled his eyes, but it was not at the hedgehog's remark. He just had a feeling that things weren't going to be in his or Slimmer's favor.

Taking advantage of the invincibility, Sonic and Tails split up to deal more damage to the enemies. Their hits sent them out the doors and onto the castle grounds. Luigi and Colombo sprinted with the duo to continue the combat. Since this was his first time facing them in a fight, Luigi needed to pay attention to their attack patterns.

Clawdio was nearly predictable. Using his extendable arms, he tried to restrain at least one of the heroes in his grasp. However, Sonic was too fast for him, Tails outmaneuvered him with his flying ability, and Colombo could turn invisible whenever he wanted to. That's when he planned to target Luigi, despite his newfound power.

Instead of buying extra power-ups, Luigi opted to take Blumiere's advice and utilize his Thunderhand. He thought deeply to generate the sensation. Once he felt a spark in his hands, he pointed an index finger at Clawdio to zap him. The foe was on the receiving end, taking the thunderbolt to the chest. Clawdio elongated his arms once more, but Luigi blocked them with a Shriek Shield. The green hero managed to penetrate the thunder through the shield to attack the orange robot.

"Grr... I'm not going down that easily..." he muttered.

Clawdio jumped high to implement a surprise aerial attack. Luigi, with his shield gone, ducked and rolled away from the hands as they cracked the hard ground. Tails took action to whack him with his tails again. He landed harshly with a couple bounces, grunting after every time he felt the surface.

Slimmer may be _much_ lankier than everyone else, considering he was ten feet tall. But his fighting experience was limited. The best he could do was institute a T-pose with his arms and spin around like a top, hoping he could knock out someone with a concussion. His other option was to let the others do the work since he has been lazy since he found one of the Chaos Emeralds for his leader. But since Clawdio was the only one with him, and he wasn't in the mood to start another argument, Slimmer went with the flow.

Unfortunately, Sonic and Tails were able to pierce his spinning form with their famous spin dashes. After he got up, he pressed a button on his chest and transformed his fists into missile launchers. He caught a look at their surprised faces.

"Ha! Bet you weren't expecting this!"

Tails hastened to Sonic and carried him by the hands. The brothers soared away from the flying weapons as they end up firing the inside of the castle. The result was a massive explosion that officially wiped out the inactive Shadelings and the computer system that operated the whole thing. And because of that, there wouldn't be any more Shadelings to continuously invade their homes.

"Oh, come off with this..." Clawdio groaned.

"Um... whoops?" Slimmer shrugged before he ducked away from Sonic running at him.

"You just HAD to ruin everything by your stupidity, don't you?!"

Before Slimmer could respond, Colombo chomped on his leg.

"OW! Not again! Get off me, you spectral pooch!"

Colombo did as he obeyed, but he soon barked at Luigi to give him a signal. From there, he sent two thunderbolts at Slimmer. They shocked the tall mech's circuits. He shuddered from the intensity and fell flat on his torso. Sonic added more salt to the wound by kicking him into the castle moat. The main difference was that it was filled with purple plasma instead of water.

Slimmer gurgled from the intense heat. "Oh... I guess I deserve this... It was nice... knowing you... Clawd... Tell the boss... I failed him..." He sank into the bottom of the moat. His eyelids glitched until they turned off.

"Urgh... Just finish me already," Clawdio told the heroes.

"Um, that's it? You're gonna give up like that?" questioned Sonic.

"Yes, it's anticlimactic, I know! Just do it already! It's not like Edge gives a damn about me or the other robots. We were gonna die either way."

"But, you're one of Edge's minions," Tails was confused at his defeated response.

"If you haven't seen the big picture that Edge is a callous person, then you must be blind out of your mind. No matter what, all he cares about his himself, his partner, and taking over everything. I'm through serving him."

"Is that what you want?"

He looked up at Luigi who asked him that question. "Yes. Put me out of my misery. You've already defeated Slimmer. Now you can do the same to me."

"Okay. If you say so."

"But... I will say this. You're tougher than what Edge thinks of you." Luigi blinked. "I'm serious. You deserve a lot more credit after how much torture you suffered from him. You still managed to do anything to stop him. That takes guts, kid."

"Um, thank you, I guess."

"You still got Alpha to worry about before the real deal. He's waiting in the duplicate location of Vanilla Dome." All four were surprised that he gave them a piece of valuable information. "Edge might be there, too. Or maybe not. But he's got one more surprise for you."

"What's that?"

Clawdio was about to answer, until his circuits overheated from the shocks he previously sustained. And before they knew it, he was shut down automatically from his injuries. Sonic, Tails, and Colombo stood next to Luigi as they viewed the remains of the broken subordinate.

"He must be so done with Edge that he seemed to be on our side. Sort of," the Blue Blur murmured.

"I kind of feel bad for him and Slimmer," said Tails.

"Me, too. But at this point, there's no time to grieve or think about this. We better head over to Vanilla Dome in the Oblivion world," Luigi straightened his hat.

"Bark!" Colombo agreed.

"You're right. Before we can try to stop Edge, we better get rid of everyone from his main line. Because who knows if Alpha is going to attempt to hinder our progress?" Tails pondered.

"Well, we better start running again," Sonic stretched his legs.

The other three nodded as they set out to find Edge's top minion. What they didn't notice was two figures emerging from being invisible. They appeared at the top of the castle, and they just witnessed the loss of Slimmer and Clawdio. One of them overheard the orange robot's comments to his disgust.

"Luigi may be braver and stronger than before, I will admit. But he still doesn't have the ability to overthrow me. Unless he bows down as my permanent slave, you," Myster Edge directed at the other figure, "will convince him to obey me, one way or another."

He nodded at the Shadow Spirit. "Whatever you say, my master." Despite being possessed, his voice sounded the same, only with a ghastly echo.

Edge malevolently smirked as he stroked his goatee. "Oh, Mario... You'll do fine as my vassal for now. But I'll throw you out once I get my hands on the brother I truly want..."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Thanks to Luigi, Colombo, Tails, and Sonic, the robots will no longer invade the Mushroom Kingdom or Mobius for the time being. That will put less pressure on the heroes back home. But they still have more work to do as they pursue Alpha in the Oblivion's version of Vanilla Dome. And eventually, they will have to defeat the Tough Possessor (a.k.a. a possessed Mario), followed by Myster Edge himself..._

 _And with that, I thank you guys for reading! Please review down below, follow/favorite so you don't miss out on the last upcoming moments, and I'll see you next time in Ch. 54 of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _In_ _LM: Dark Moon_ _, Luigi has helped E. Gadd's Toad assistants by holding them with the Poltergust's nozzle and shooting them across gaps or onto ledges to progress his missions. I decided to write a humorous skit of Luigi shooting Sonic down the summit as his revenge._

 ** _(2):_** _Smithy was the main antagonist in_ _Super Mario RPG_ _where he built a factory in a strange dimension to mass-produce copies of weapons and bosses that Mario and his team had faced. This is where I got the concept from as Edge built a factory of his own to send Shadelings to raid Mario and Sonic's worlds._

 ** _(3):_** _This explicit Italian phrase translates to 'That asshole.'_


	55. Ch 54: A Storm is Brewing

_A/N:_ _Recently, I was extremely lucky to find and purchase a copy of_ _Luigi's Mansion_ _for the GameCube after searching it for nearly a decade. Playing through the game has given me some motivation to write this, so here's another chapter._

 _I also have a major announcement. If everything goes according to plan, and as long as I don't make any stupid last-second changes,_ _Hidden Bravery_ _will be completed with a length of sixty pages long: the prologue, fifty-eight main chapters, and the epilogue. Including this upload, that means we'll have six more chapters to wrap up this fanfiction. Everyone who has been throughout this journey has my utmost respect and thanks for supporting both me and_ _HB_ _. With that being said, let's return to the action!_

 ** _*NOTE: This chapter has been re-edited because of the time cycle of how long Luigi has to defeat Myster Edge._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _All property of Mario is reserved by Nintendo. All property of Sonic is claimed by Sega. If I ever own any of these... Oh, who am I kidding? That's never going to happen._

* * *

 **Chapter 54:** A Storm is Brewing

Since Clawdio was atypically nice to give Luigi the whereabouts of Edge's most loyal Shadeling, the green man wasted no time to fly over to the identical area of Vanilla Dome, mirroring the location of the Shadow Spirit's headquarters. Luigi actually found two extra Cape Feathers in his inventory. Using one of them, he held Colombo and flew over to the southern islands while Tails carried Sonic by the hands.

"How's the flight going for you, Luigi?" the fox peered over to see his friend.

Luigi, carefully gliding with one arm on the cape and the other wrapped around his Polterpup, answered back. "So far, so good. I must say, you're very strong to hold Sonic for a long period of time."

"Are you saying that because I'm taller and heavier than him?" Sonic raised an eyebrow.

"Um, not really. I'm just saying that he must be strong and persevering enough to fly anywhere with you, even when you're not flying the Tornado."

"Thanks, Luigi. Although, as much as I love planes and flying in general, nothing beats hanging around with Sonic," he looked down and smiled.

His blue friend was flattered, and he paralleled his smirk. "Thanks, buddy. It's always awesome being with you, too!"

The younger Mario brother admired their relationship together. It reminded so much of him and Mario. Except, since his brother is still in Edge's hands, he couldn't help but think about him. What could Edge have done to his older sibling after the amount of insufferable torture he himself had faced? Did Mario face the same punishments, or even worse? Unbeknownst to him, it _was_ or _as_ worse as his own torment, depending on how you look at the situation.

Colombo whimpered a ghostly whine, eliciting Luigi to look down at him. His sympathetic expression said it all.

"Luigi?"

The man turned back at his Mobian friends. "Yeah?"

"You alright?" Tails asked.

He nodded forcefully. "Just thinking, again."

"About Mario?" Sonic easily assumed.

"Like it wasn't hard to figure out."

"Just don't worry, man. I told you before, we'll get him back soon. No matter how many times you say or think about him, we'll get you through the tough times."

"Yeah. And I bet Mario still has that confidence in you to save the day."

Luigi took Sonic and Tails' words as a small breather to ease his mind. Clearing the bad thoughts away, he regained his composure as he and the fox continued soaring under the massive purple sky.

* * *

The carbon copy of the caverns didn't have the same pure vanilla scent as the original due to the fact it was an artificial location in a strange dimension. But the geography was mostly the same. North of Yoshi's Island and adjacent to the Donut Plains, the interior of the dome was dark and damp. And of course, every part of all of these areas were crystallized in Dark Shards as more were found in extraneous piles. And for each body of water in the Mushroom Kingdom, violet waves of plasma took its place in the Oblivion. Thankfully, neither of the heroes fell into it when they flew south. They didn't think twice to experiment what might happen after witnessing Slimmer's death.

As Luigi removed his cape, he grabbed the flashlight and turned on the bulb. To reiterate, the place was _way_ too purple. Not just in Vanilla Dome, but every square inch, square foot, and acre of land was uniform in that color. It was probably too much for Waluigi's taste, even though he wasn't with them.

"Do you ever get tired of something that's very bland and excessive when it comes to the color purple?"

Luigi thought about Sonic's query for a while. "I mean, we did travel through Subspace, and the entirety of that was purple. It doesn't really bother me."

"Yeah, you got a point. But when it comes to Waluigi..."

He rolled his eyes. "I only get tired of him if he and Wario are pulling pranks on Mario and me. I've gotten used to it nowadays, and I've tried to ignore them no matter how loud and obnoxious they can be."

"Has it worked out?" Tails wondered.

"Well, two weeks before my birthday, Mario and I were going to play doubles tennis against the princesses. However, Wario and Waluigi stole our bag of tennis balls and replaced them with Bob-ombs. And guess who the unfortunate individual was to pick up one, only to get their face exploded with ash?"

"With your luck, I presume you got the short end of the stick," Sonic stifled a laugh.

"And boom goes the dynamite," Luigi terribly ruminated as shook his head.

"I mean, I could think of a scenario that could be worse than that. Maybe you'll find some legendary tennis racket and its power will completely possess you into some freaky mummy of some sort." **_(1)_**

The plumber gave Sonic an extremely perplexed look. "Where the hell did you get that from?"

"I don't know. The idea just popped in my head."

Luigi put a hand on his forehead in distress. "Oh, I don't feel so good."

"Well, we better not stand here all day. Let's head inside."

"You're right, Tails. We're squandering time again. We can't afford to lose more." Luigi cracked his neck before leading the pack in the grotto.

* * *

The four came across a humongous gap filled with plasma. Since swimming in it was not an option for the heroes, they did the same as before. Luigi grabbed his last Cape Feather and carried Colombo over the gap. Tails followed with Sonic until they landed on the other side with them.

Luigi turned the flashlight on again. "I don't see Alpha anywhere yet," he peeked ahead at the straightaway path.

"I don't hear him either," Tails listened carefully. It was unnervingly silent throughout the interior of the dome.

"Come on. Let's just keep walking," Sonic urged.

Luigi led with the light source as he mindfully watched out for potential danger. When they got to the end of the tunnel, there was a narrow ledge that extended along the wall. Down below was an enormous abyss of darkness.

"Mamma Mia..." Luigi gulped.

He leaned his back against it to prevent himself from falling forward. Sonic trailed him while Colombo barely had room to keep his paws on. Tails flew with his namesakes to see the path ahead. He cautiously observed his friends in case one of them was about to fall. Luigi nearly tumbled when a piece of the ledge broke off. But then, after the next step he took, it crumbled to where he lost his footing.

"AAAHH!"

"Luigi!" Tails swiftly grabbed onto his wrist tightly. "Urgh! I... I got you!"

A vibration shook the cave. Sonic shook his arms before gluing his hands to the wall. "Geez! I almost fell- OOOOFF!" The hedgehog slipped when another vibration occurred.

"Sonic!" Tails reacted and reached out to snatch his friend. The fox was struggling to carry both of them. But he attempted to prevail so he could carry Luigi and Sonic to safer ground.

Colombo peeked down where his legs shook in fear. Whimpering to himself, he noticed that a few bits of the Dark Shards collapsed off the wall and descended into the chasm. He was about to take another cautious step until...

"Arf!"

The Polterpup cried out a scared woof that caught Luigi's attention.

"Colombo! No!"

Sonic and Tails turned their heads around to witness the predicament Colombo was stuck in. His front paws clung onto the remains of the ledge while his back legs scratched the surface, struggling to climb back up. He continued to whine and panic, causing the other three to have their hearts beating rapidly, especially Luigi's.

"Be careful, Colombo!"

The dog used his might, but to no avail. As he remained in a bad position, the part of the ledge he was hanging onto completely subsided off the cliff. Colombo howled as gravity took him to the depths of the gulf.

"COLOMBO!" Luigi yelled in anguish. He was kicking his feet and pulling Tails a couple inches down.

"Luigi, what are you doing?!" the kitsune grunted.

"Let me go! I gotta find him!"

Sonic couldn't believe what he said. "What?! Are you out of your fucking mind, Luigi?!"

"Yes, I'm out of my fucking mind! It's been like that since that bastard nearly sent me to a deathbed on my birthday!"

"Luigi, remain calm, please!" Tails begged.

"I WON'T remain calm! I've already lost Mario too many times, and I'm not going to lose someone else in my family! I've got to save Colombo!"

"Luigi, don't!"

But it was too late. Ignoring his friends' pleas, the plumber forced the fox to let go of his wrist, and he plummeted to the gorge in pursuit of his loving pet. Tails shuddered when he saw him disappear into the darkness.

"Great. Now we have no choice."

"What do you mean, Sonic?"

"We need to go down as well."

"What?"

"You heard me, Tails. I don't know if there is anything below. But we might as do it if we have to reunite with them. But take it nice and steady. I'm not interested to enjoy free falling in a place like this."

"Oh, man. This can't get any worse." He sighed and ran his free hand through his bangs before clutching Sonic's other grip. "Alright, then. Hang on tight."

"You got it, buddy."

The duo carefully flew to the mysterious bottom, unaware of what was down there other than their missing friends.

* * *

A slight groan emitted from Luigi's mouth. The horrible feeling of pain coursed through his entire body. He did land on something solid, but not before he sealed himself with a Shriek Shield just moments before he made contact with the ground. Although the barrier was solidified, it barely helped him sustain the large drop. As a result, he didn't receive any wounds, and his bones weren't broken (thankfully), yet his entire body was in extreme pain.

Then, Luigi recognized the same ghostly whimper from his Polterpup.

"C-Colombo?" he mumbled with a lack of strength. He couldn't open his eyes at the moment.

The spectral pooch was also fine despite him dropping from the cliff. Since the only bones he had were golden treats, he wasn't hurt from the fall. But seeing his owner ache from the same action spooked him (no pun intended). He worriedly scuttled to the green-hatted hero. He lifted one of his front paws and gently rubbed the side of his face. He sniffed his ear before whining again.

"Colombo... I-I'm here... D-Don't worry..."

Luigi relied on his sense of touch to soothe him by petting his head. He used his other hand to feel his overall pockets. He sluggishly pulled out a Super Mushroom and chomped a small bite off the top. Feeling somewhat invigorated, he managed to eat the rest. The energy allowed Luigi to sit up from where he laid. Colombo's tail waggled at the sight, but he wasn't entirely happy.

"Oh my god. Where are we?"

The man uncomfortably rubbed the back of his head. He soon realized a familiar region. It was a circular arena, similar to the one where he encountered the Grouchy Possessor when he took over the body of a vicious Cheep Chomp. But of course, the landscape was different as everything was covered in Dark Shards, and plasma was flowing from below the stage. The main problem was that there was hardly any light to help him see.

"How did we get here?" he wondered.

Luigi turned on his flashlight. He looked up at the ceiling to see a medium-sized opening. Instead of having a source of light shining down, it was pure blackness up above.

"I guess that's how. But it's kind of weird how this room has a hole in the ceiling when the one in the real Vanilla Dome didn't. Mario was hanging there by a rope, but I don't remember a hole up there."

Colombo nudged his head as another indication of asking whether or not Luigi was fine.

"Yeah, boy. I'm good for now. I'm not 100% healthy, but it's better than being stuck in limbo."

Just then, the two heard a whirring noise. They wondered what it was until they tilted their heads up again.

"Luigi! Colombo!"

To their surprise, Tails and Sonic appeared from the opening. The fox lowered the hedgehog close to the ground before the latter let go to land on his feet. Tails eventually stopped whirling his namesakes to reach the floor as well.

"Sonic, Tails... You're here."

"Of course, you idiot," said Sonic half-jokingly. "Dude, what were you thinking? You basically gave us a heart attack when you willingly let go of Tails."

"Did you really believe that was smart of you?" the kit questioned.

"Not really. Guys, I'm sorry I made a dumb move. But I really can't lose my cagnetto. If I don't get Mario back, he's the only one left in my family. And losing him would just... _Sigh_ , I don't even know anymore."

The hedgehog and the fox softened their expressions and cared for the friend.

"Well, at least you're with him again," Sonic pointed out.

"Now we got to find Alpha before-"

Tails was interrupted by the same tremor from earlier. Then, it got louder and more intense as the arena shook. Luigi, Sonic, and Tails spread their arms out to steady themselves. When the shaking stopped, everyone sighed of relief.

"God, it's like the Void all over again. When we traveled inside Castle Bleck, the thing just kept reverberating. Except-" The tremble came back instantly. Since Luigi didn't expect it, he fell backwards. "Oof! Ow..." he rubbed his backside.

"Here," Sonic was about to help him on his feet. But before he did, Tails saw something shooting down at them.

"LOOK OUT!" he dove at his friends and pushed them out of the way. Luckily, all three were unscathed when a laser struck the solid ground.

"What happened?" Luigi asked.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo yipped. When the heroes stood up, they saw the Omega-like Shadeling hover down to the arena.

"Well, well, well... If it isn't Mr. Green Mustache and three of his anthropomorphic beast freaks."

"First of all," Sonic held a finger while putting his other hand on his hip, "Colombo isn't humanlike. He's a ghost dog. And second," he raised another finger, "I'm a hedgehog, Tails is a fox, and we're neither beasts nor freaks."

Alpha ignored the Blue Blur's comment. "According to my databases, you have apparently terminated the lives of Slimmer and Clawdio. I wish I could say I was impressed. But both of them were as incompetent as a snail slithering away from being stepped on."

"Really? You're just gonna pretend like I didn't say anything?!"

He gave a glance at Sonic before continuing. "I thought Myster Edge clearly explained that only the man in green shall enter the Oblivion on the choice that he wants to face him."

"If I recall, he said Luigi had the option to allow extra forces to join him. And he accepted us, so your statement is invalid," Tails debunked.

"No one likes a smart aleck," the robot scolded. The caves shook yet again as several pieces of the shards crumbled to the plasma sea. "You hear that? That's the sound of the inevitable, the moment that the Oblivion is getting closer to consuming all worlds."

"Timewise, how close are you talking about?" Luigi raised an eyebrow.

"Based on my countdown clock, no more than eighteen hours." ** _(2)_**

"Eighteen hours? Heh, that's no big deal to us! We have plenty of time!" Sonic scoffed with a grin.

"Don't get too cocky, Sonic," Tails muttered to him.

"You'll eventually see how time goes by pretty quickly when you're about to die soon."

"Okay, I'm pretty sure that's not how the saying goes," said Sonic, crossing his arms.

"It doesn't matter if I go by the correct idiom or not. What matters is that this will soon be over, for the worlds and your pathetic lives. Myster Edge may have the influence of the seven Chaos Emeralds and the multitude of the Dark Shards he created, along with the Chaos Heart copy he stole from your body," he pointed to Luigi. "But eventually, he'll achieve his domination and complete power once Dimentio is resuscitated. And the Oblivion will wipe out everything like a raging storm."

"Since you've mentioned all that, I know another storm that's coming this way," Luigi grumbled.

"And what's that?"

The man answered Alpha's question with two separate volts of thunder emitting from his index finger. He reacted to the gesture by evading off to the side.

"Despicable. Trying to deal damage to me from an unexpected move? That's such a cowardly move, milquetoast."

"You're one to talk. Your leader has done that to me frequently!"

"Hold on. Real talk here," Sonic held his hands up. "Did you just call Luigi a breakfast food and drink combo?"

"Really, Sonic? Right now?"

"You imbecile. I said 'milquetoast', otherwise known as a timid, submissive weakling."

"I may have a wide, colorful vocabulary, but I've never heard of a word like that," Tails mentioned.

"And that's why I asked on what he said."

"That's enough! This English debate has nothing to do with all this! I'm just trying to get into your thick skulls that this cretin is a worthless being!"

Colombo responded for the first time since he saw Alpha. With his teeth, he displayed his animosity towards the golden robot for berating Luigi. In addition, he wanted to gnaw on his circuits so badly to shut this jerk down. Luigi, Sonic, and Tails felt the same way, minus the gnawing part. They wanted to expel him for good.

"Oh, what now? You're not even capable to fight me, ugly canine."

"Ruff! Ruff! Grr!"

"Why don't you shut up?" Alpha immediately shot a beam at the Polterpup. And for the first time, Colombo was too slow to turn invisible, thus receiving the incoming attack.

"Arf!" he howled as he flew backwards towards the edge of the platform.

"Colombo, no!" Luigi ran over and dove at the dog to barely catch him. His momentum made him slide, and he couldn't stop due to his poor traction.

"Luigi!" Sonic hurried to him and managed to stop his friend from falling. However, Luigi's upper half was hanging over the margin. Colombo whimpered when he was over the chasm with the plasma bubbling below.

Tails ran as well to help the others get back on the stage safely. Thankfully, Luigi was fine, but Colombo felt feeble as he shook his body. Once he did, he promptly fell onto his stomach.

"Is he alright?" Tails kneeled down to inspect Colombo.

"At the moment, no, he's not." Luigi turned around to glare at Alpha, who chortled at the scene.

"You know what's funny? At first, I was a bit unsure, skeptical per se, whenever Myster Edge told me how he always wanted to punish you in the most physical and harmful ways possible. Now, I understand how my liege feels whenever he hurt someone. I feel _satisfied_."

Luigi felt his hands prickling with electricity. He felt his Thunderhand powers growing.

"It may not be towards you since Edge has a higher priority over me. But if it includes people related or close to you, then I realize the same sentiment."

He clenched his fists tightly at his sides.

"I mean, he did also try to kill your older brother who's a much better role model than yourself. Turns out he was success-"

Enraged, Luigi had enough of his demoralizing words. He shot more thunderbolts at the Omega clone. Some deflected off his claws, others hit his feet, and one in particular struck Alpha in the sturdy chest. He jumped over and crushed a piece of him as he stared straight into his red, glowing eyes.

"You're lying. Edge didn't kill Mario," Luigi denied.

"Oh, you should've been there when we had him hooked up in the Underground Lab back at the Treacherous Mansion."

He softened his expression for a second. "Wait. You mean... after Mario and I parted ways in the mansion, Slimmer and Clawdio took him to the underground?"

"That's correct."

"Luigi, what's your point?" Sonic called from the other side.

"You're inferring that... I could've saved him if I stayed at Treacherous... He wouldn't have been in Edge's hands again if I had known."

"And because of that..." Alpha punched him off his chest. "He's no longer living, thanks to you. Edge decided all this time to make you weaker than before. If he wasn't going to drive you insane physically, then he'll go to desperate measures to harm you emotionally. I'm certain you feel pretty bad that you're the reason he's gone, right?"

Luigi tilted his head to glimpse at him with narrowed pupils and clenched teeth. He really tried not to tear up. Sonic, Tails, and Colombo, to the best of his might, scurried to the plumber, also exchanging livid scowls.

"Oh, and by the way, the red guy wanted to say some words to you before he perished."

Attentively listening, though very fatigued, he was waiting for a dreadful response.

"His last few words... 'My brother deserves the pain. He deserves to die. And he doesn't deserve me.' To be honest, it's quite pitiful to hear the truth come out like that."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Luigi completely lost it.

To the others' amazement, as if he wasn't exhausted in the first place, he went into a fist fighting frenzy as the thunder extracted from his gloved hands. Each thump to Alpha was utterly shocking in a literal way. But unlike his previous stints when he fought Bowser and his kids in Sparkling Waters and when he encountered Metal Sonic being possessed by Shrewd in Chemical Plant, the man in green was fully conscious and in full gear to fight back. He set up his vengeance at his brother's supposed demise. (Little did he know that Alpha said those remarks to dig deep into his skin like a sharp knife.)

The Shadeling resisted some of his punches as he was dealt some severe damage from the electrifying assault. Staying alive on the arena, he fired a ton of lasers from his arm cannon, causing the younger Mario brother to leap away. Sonic dashed from the projectiles, Tails spun his tails to get off the ground, and Colombo was able to veil himself from Alpha. At that point, the blue hedgehog spun around the arena in search of an open opportunity to damage him. The twin-tailed kitsune had an aerial shot at them from up high. The invisible Polterpup chose to regain his vigor before reappearing in front of the brawl.

"Let's keep the show rolling, shall we?" threatened Alpha.

He continuously focused on Luigi and simultaneously dodged his thunderous moves. He switched to utilizing other offensive tactics. Converting from his cannon to a missile launcher, the projectiles fired at Luigi. He had to scoot off to his right as they crashed into the wall, causing more Dark Shards to plunge into the gorge. The place shook violently again, another indication that the Oblivion was getting larger and closer to consuming the dimensions. Alpha released a flamethrower from his chest, spewing fire towards the heroes. Sonic and Tails were able to avoid the fire, but Luigi barely escaped as part of his overalls singed from the burn.

"Aah! Damn it!"

Luigi had to sprint from Alpha who tried to slam him onto the crystal ground. He took out another Super Mushroom to regain his health. Afterward, he maintained his moves to keep the enemy distracted. With his jumping abilities and athleticism, he unexpectedly sent waves of his Thunderhand in an attempt to immobilize Alpha. But every time, the large mech was able to dodge and repulse with his arsenal set.

Hardly finding any success, Luigi opted to be aggressive rather than be cautious. Using up another Shriek Shield, he withstood Alpha's lasers and charged his hands. The thunder passed through the paranormal barrier and zapped his legs, rendering him immobile. Followed by a high triple jump, he ground pounded his face. Sonic saw the advantage and spin dashed his body several times. Tails did the same with the addition of striking him by his appendages. Colombo resurfaced after his recovery. Immediately, he ran to his legs and bit through the metal as hard as he could.

"OWWW! You little swine!" he tried to shake him off. He eventually let go when Alpha tried to seize him.

"Hey, tough guy!" Alpha turned around, only to see a ball of blue whirl right into him. He dropped onto his back as Sonic landed perfectly on his feet. "Keep going, guys!"

Tails went forward to knock a few hits and kicks, sending him into Luigi's path. "Do it, Luigi!"

The green man received his message and prepared another round of his Thunderhand. Palms up and fingers curled into fists, he drew his elbows back before extending his arms out. The bolts released from his hands. They shot directly at Alpha, and his body jolted from the overwhelming shocks.

"ARGHH!"

Luigi didn't stop there as he leaped forward and spayed more thunder from his palms. They coursed through Alpha's circuits until they were fried up and inadequate. The superior Shadeling went down onto the cold ground once more, feeling anemic for the first time ever. That goes to show when he underestimated Luigi and his friends.

On a hand and a knee, the plumber breathed heavily after another rousing, yet tough victory. He slowly stood up before sauntering over to the defeated Shadeling. Colombo, Tails, and Sonic rejoined him as they looked down at him as well.

"You guys alright?" Tails asked everyone.

"I'm good, buddy. How about you, Luigi?"

"A bit relieved, Sonic. Colombo?"

"Ruff!"

"Well, that's good at least," the fox wiped the sweat off his forehead.

"Yeah. I'm just glad this fight's over with."

Then, Luigi noticed something. "Hey, guys? Do you hear that?" It was a slow, beeping sound.

"Yeah, I do. Where's it coming from?"

Suddenly, Alpha was on his backup battery. His red eyes lit up. Another red light from his chest started to flicker, too.

"What the?! He's still alive?!" Sonic exclaimed.

"You may have won this battle, but you won't win the war. You still have to defeat my master and his partners."

 _"Partners?"_ Luigi thought, perceiving that he used the plural form. _"But the only one left of Edge's main group is... Dimentio. That is, if he's already back. Who else is involved?"_

"Furthermore, Myster Edge devised one more surprise if I was unsuccessful."

"Which you are," Sonic remarked.

"Shut up, rat." That made the hedgehog furious. How many times has he been called that? Too many, is the answer. "When all else fails, desperate times call for desperate measures. In this case, let it explode."

"Wait, what?" Tails was perplexed.

Luigi instantaneously realized what Alpha meant, especially when the light blinked faster. Alpha had a bomb planted in his body.

"GET BACK!"

He pushed all three several feet away from Alpha and opened up a Shriek Shield that was able to surround them. The incessant beeping was going crazy until the light was stationary. From there, Alpha blew up from a large explosion. The heroes inside the shield went flying upward as the roof and the rest of Vanilla Dome was absolutely obliterated. The detonation sent them over the plasma that they initially flew over.

When the barrier disappeared, all four screamed when they approached solid land. Luigi harshly went face first while Sonic and Tails fell on different sides of him. The Polterpup experienced another devastating fall when he dropped in front of Luigi. The heroes hit the ground and remained motionless. To add more stress to the situation, the sky in the Oblivion became more dangerous as it began to form extra dark, foggy clouds and glitches everywhere. But still, Luigi and his friends didn't get up. As seconds in the Oblivion were wasted, more time was dwindling down back on their planets.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Another Shadeling is down as Alpha will no longer appear for the remainder of this story. But that doesn't mean much after he executed a last-second suicide attempt against our quartet of heroes. And now, they're unconscious. Will fate be on their side? And can they recover as soon as possible?_

 _Next time on_ _Hidden Bravery_ _, the scene in the prologue will finally come into significance. That's right. Luigi will be met with a nightmare he once had, and it will come true when the timing's right. But for now, let me know how this chapter went. Review, follow/favorite, and I'll see you for the moment you've probably waited for: Luigi vs. Mario. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _(SPOILERS!) In the upcoming sports game, Mario Tennis Aces, the story mode features Luigi being possessed by a dark force from something called the Legendary Racket. The general synopsis is that Mario has to go out to save him. There isn't a lot of extra information to further describe this journey based on what Nintendo has shown (as of this update)._

 ** _(2):_** _This PCN is re-edited because the idea where time goes by quickly in the Oblivion compared to the real world made the plot stupid and confusing to understand. Instead, time flows by at the same rate in all dimensions, including the Oblivion._


	56. Ch 55: Super Mario Bros Brawl

_A/N: ***NOTE- This chapter has been re-edited because of the time cycle of how long Luigi has to defeat Myster Edge.**_

 _I want to thank Steel Fairy, SpiderDom321, Infinite's Ruby, Tsukimine12, and Tiger of Darkness for their comments. And even though the review counter says I'm at 181 as of this upload, I technically have 180 since one was deleted due to irrelevant spam. But if this pace continues, HB might reach 200. And **that** would blow my mind._

 _Alright, that's enough about me. We're here because the introduction will finally take part in the main story. It is time for... (Drum roll, please.)_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _[Insert copy of a previous disclaimer here saying I don't own shit except the plot and my OCs.]_

* * *

 **Chapter 55:** Super Mario Bros. Brawl **_(1)_**

 _~Flashback, Tuesday, 3:30 a.m._

 _..._

 _Location: Memory Hill_ _ **(2)**_

 _"Ah, whew... Excellent. You have really done better in this contest than the rest of them."_

 _"Thank you, Count. You were a formidable individual to train with."_

 _Timpani strolled over to rejuvenate their health status. "There you go, gentlemen. You did amazing, Luigi!"_

 _"I gotta say, you look ready to take on Myster Edge," Duplicit commented._

 _"You think so?"_

 _"We all do! We think you're truly ready!" Duplimore trusted him._

 _"The real question, do you think you're prepared to take on Edge?" Blumiere queried._

 _For the first time in a while, Luigi smiled heroically. And with confidence, he replied, "I believe I am."_

 _The group decided to let the green plumber rest for the night before heading back to the Mushroom Kingdom to reunite with his friends. After all, he didn't get any sleep since he fought a fake Tough Possessor and was harmed by Edge's powers._

 _Luigi sat underneath the tall apple tree at the top of Memory Hill, closing his eyes and deeply sighing of relief. He felt a bit more comfortable and confident than he did before fighting Count Blumiere. He didn't like to gloat, but he had to admit. He really believed he did a good job at defending and attacking. Whenever he found an open opportunity, he zapped with his thunder. If there was a moment the Count attempted to retaliate, his reaction time improved to where he didn't get hurt. Albeit this was a training session, it was a great way to prepare for the danger that is Blumiere's younger brother, Myster Edge._

 _Then, Luigi opened his eyes, looking up at the night sky with the large, dark hole in the middle of it. He thought about the two men. There were some similar traits that Blumiere and Edge shared, but it was kind of odd that they were actually part of the same bloodline. One of the biggest differences was that Blumiere desired to get rid of the worlds after being disjointed from his lover, Timpani. His purpose was far different, though his plan was selfish in one aspect. Myster Edge, on the other hand, was greedy for power and authority like any other clich_ _é_ _d villain, such as Bowser and Dr. Eggman._

 _And, they both have some association with Dimentio. The Count hired him as a former servant as he used his magic for manipulation. Myster Edge was apparently a good friend of the jester since they teamed up to go for ultimate control. But the main point he thought was that these two didn't seem to connect. Not just in how they planned to utilize the Chaos Heart, but how they connect from a family standpoint. That made Luigi wonder. How have these two separated from one another, and was their relationship detached in some way?_

 _"Does something bother you?"_

 _Luigi's thoughts were put aside when he jumped a little from the voice. It came from the top-hatted man._

 _"Oh, Blumiere. I didn't see you there."_

 _"My apologies. I didn't mean to spook you."_

 _"No, you didn't do anything wrong. I was just thinking."_

 _The Count sat down beside him. The two watched the Oblivion continue to swirl ominously. At the bottom of the hill, Timpani was leisurely walking with Duplimore and Duplicit._

 _"If you don't mind, might I ask what you were pondering about?"_

 _Luigi wasn't sure if he wanted to ask. But, he went with it after taking another deep breath. "Count, this is more of a personal thing, but... between you and Edge, did you ever have a strong bond with him?"_

 _Blumiere didn't show it, but his eye and mouth changing to red said otherwise. "My father was the king of the Tribe of Darkness. My mother deceased months after giving birth to Edge. My brother and I were quite distant due to the fact my father was more interested in raising him since he's more into the idea of rising power whereas I hardly cared. You could say he's the favorite child of my family."_

 _"I kind of get what you mean. Mario is more of the favorite between me and him for many reasons known. But sometimes, I couldn't care less. Other times, it kind of hurts my feelings, but I try not to let it get to me. Sorry, you can continue."_

 _"It's okay. Another reason why we didn't get along was the fact that Edge basically worshipped my father and his ways of living. One of the main rules that the ancestors of our tribe had to follow was that we must not engage in any close or loving relationship with those who were born outside our group. They have also deemed marriage under this rule forbidden. You can draw the implication that both my father and Edge were not proud of me when they heard about my secret yearning for Timpani."_

 _"It's kind of like how Daisy's father didn't approve of me being in love with her. But Daisy has shown similar feelings to the point that we care for each other."_

 _"I'm glad to hear that about your relationship. I really am. But as I was saying, they didn't accept me or Timpani for that reason. Thus, my father banished her to wherever she went. I haven't seen her for so long. He ridiculed me, saying I brought shame to our descendants, the entire tribe who was alive at the time, our family, and especially himself. I tried to argue that she was the one who completed me, the one who was my entire world. My damned father wanted me to know what happens when I betray the rules. I was absolutely devastated for days, which turned into weeks, and then months. Edge also oppressed me, saying I should move on, for heaven's sake that I would never fall for someone human like her again..._

 _"That's when I lost it. My ire grew strong. My mind couldn't form coherent thoughts. When I couldn't take it anymore, I was no longer Count Blumiere, and I changed for the worst. I stole the Dark Prognosticus from the tribe as my own way of punishing my father and everyone who made those stupid rules of how to live life as a member trapped in darkness. Edge called me crazy, but I resisted. However, he did beg to me to spare his life."_

 _Luigi was a little shocked, to say the least. "He begged you to stay alive?" Blumiere nodded. "I could never see him do that after all the shit he's done to me."_

 _"Well, he tried to forgive me for all the stuff he spat at me. We may haven't gotten along well, but he was still my brother, someone I probably should've took care of like any other older sibling. Thus, I kept him alive. But my father and everyone else of the Tribe of Darkness perished from my magic. Then, I wanted to continue my vengeance by getting rid of all the worlds under the impression that I wasn't going to see Timpani again. To this day, I have some qualms for my actions."_

 _"Does it involve regret?"_

 _"Looking back on what happened afterward and especially to you, yes. I was regretful."_

 _Luigi looked down at the grass, slightly dancing from the small breeze that flew past the two._

 _"I gathered a group of allies who were willing to follow my plan. There was Nastasia, whom I once rescued. She swore allegiance to be my main advisor. I also met O'Chunks and Mimi, who were at least loyal to me the whole way through despite my erratic intentions. And of course, there's Dimentio who secretly had his own plan to take authority over the Chaos Heart. And by befriending Edge, he had his extra backup if he somehow failed..._

 _"With the exception of Mimi, O'Chunks, and Nastasia, I've never felt so lonely and lifeless than I did before. I never got along with my family, and Timpani was the first person to change my demeanor despite our physical differences. But in regard to your question, unlike your brotherly bond with the red hero, I didn't really bond well with Edge."_

 _Luigi took in his entire speech very deeply. He felt it was a shame that two members of the same family, brothers no less, were disconnected ever since they've known each other from the very beginning._

 _"Was there ever a time you actually cared about him?"_

 _Blumiere wasn't sure, to be frank. "I don't know," he simply replied._

 _"When was the last time you talked to him?"_

 _"The last real conversation we had happened after I conducted the forced wedding. He felt that love wasn't powerful in any shape or form. He wanted me to move on, but the ache in my heart denied me from doing so. Even though I spared Edge, he still belittled me. I remember his last words that he said to me."_

 _"What did he tell you?"_

 _The Count shook his head. "He said, 'You've taken things too seriously for months, and you're still in denial that she's no longer living. You're absolutely pathetic. I thought the older brother was supposed to be strong and supportive. Turns out I was wrong. You're nothing but a dishonorable, selfish fool.' He left me, and that marked the beginning of when we went our separate ways. Unbeknownst to me, however, he was still collaborating with Dimentio in secret..._

 _"Nonetheless, as I continued to fulfill the dark prophecy, thoughts about Timpani roamed in my head. But Edge also clouded my mind, too. To think, I had little to no feelings for him because we're totally different. But for some reason, I felt regret for sparing his life, yet I felt regret for not being a brother to him. He had a point. I was more focused on love instead of my family. However, I probably wouldn't have never met Timpani if I wasn't born. And if I never reunited with her, Edge would be the last one who I was close to, despite our distance. It's too complicated, really."_

 _Luigi really didn't know what to say. He thought of a scenario himself where in a parallel universe, Mario was still his older brother, but the two never got along as they lived together. Putting himself in Blumiere's shoes, even though Luigi was the younger sibling, he hated to imagine what life would be like if Mario shunned him for various reasons, similar to his nightmare when he slept in Sonic and Tails' house._

 _"Count?"_

 _He looked to his right. "Yes, Luigi?"_

 _"Do you miss him?"_

 _Blumiere didn't respond immediately. He set his scepter down on the grass and laid an arm over his knees._

 _"A part of my heart does, actually. If I could ever see him again, I just want to say that I'm sorry for not being a good brother to him."_

 _"Well, I could pass that message to him once I face him."_

 _Blumiere blinked. "Really? You would do that for me?"_

 _"I would. Even though I have a strong hatred for him, I'll find a way to tell him about you and your feelings. Despite what he's done to you and me, I think he should know about this."_

 _After another round of silence, the top-hatted figure adjusted his monocle and gently placed a hand on Luigi's shoulder. "Thank you. I really appreciate it."_

 _"Anything for you, Count," the green man smiled._

 _~End of flashback_

* * *

"Blumiere? Blumiere?"

The Count shook his head when he heard his lover's voice, dismissing the interaction he had with Luigi. He saw her approach from his left side.

"Are you okay, darling?"

He cleared his throat. "I'm fine, Timpani. Just reminiscing."

"About the invasion earlier?"

"No. It's something else I discussed with the green hero."

From the late-night period, the Lady and the Count have stayed awake with Duplimore and Duplicit after a group of Shadelings entered their territory. But since Luigi shut down the machines, the robots have stopped spawning into the area. Regardless, the Oblivion grew larger in size as the early morning hours were approaching. The sky's horizon started to show a glimmer of orange and yellow.

"Duplimore, Duplicit," Timpani called. "How much time do we have left?"

The Duplighosts walked over to the couple. "It's seven in the morning right now," Duplimore responded. "If I remember correctly, Edge created the Oblivion back on Friday at around nine."

"So that means Luigi and his friends have only two hours left before the Oblivion completely devours all of the dimensions," Duplicit spoke. "I don't know about you, but that's cutting it close. Because who knows if Luigi and his friends might struggle?"

"It could be worse. There's a chance they might fail to succeed against Edge."

"Or even Mario."

"We just have to keep believing, even if..." Timpani paused when she saw a horrified look on her lover's face. "Blumiere?" she shook his shoulder.

He looked down at Timpani. "I forgot..." he whispered.

"What did you forget?" Duplimore wondered.

He clutched his scepter, once again filled with regret. But this was for a different reason. "I forgot to tell Luigi."

"About what?" Duplicit asked.

"Mario... And the fact that he has to..."

All three suddenly realized what he was implying. Timpani furrowed her eyebrows as she became more concerned than before.

"Oh, dear... Once Luigi finds out..."

The Count lowered his hat in chagrin. "Unfortunately, he has no choice but to duel him."

* * *

 _Location: The Oblivion_

"Bark! Bark!" A sad, ghostly whine followed the two woofs.

"Luigi. Luigi, wake up," another voice was heard.

"Come on, man. We're running out of time!"

Sonic, Tails, and Colombo managed to get up after the large explosion from Alpha. They landed outside the entrance to Toad Town. The three were huddled around Luigi who was lying on his stomach. The fox and the hedgehog turned him around so that he was lying on his back. But with the Poltergust in the way, they brought him to a tree to lean against.

"Luigi! Wake up, dude!" Sonic shook his shoulders violently. Even with all that motion, the plumber couldn't open his eyes. "Darn it. Looks like we'll have to do this the hard way."

"What are you insinuating, Sonic?"

Tails got his answer when the cobalt animal slapped Luigi across his left cheek, _hard_.

"OW!" he raised a hand over the spot that was hit. "Sonic! Did you-"

"Slap your face because you were asleep? Look, I'm sorry, but I had to do it! We needed you back so we could find Edge and take that jerk down!" He and Tails helped him to his feet. "Now that you're awake, we got to find him now."

"How long has it been since we were out?"

"We don't know," Tails scratched his head. "It could've been several hours at this point. The only thing we know is that we have much less than eighteen hours after Alpha tried to massacre us."

Luigi stared at the Poltergust's Shriek Shield meter, exhibiting the number '9'. "At least I have plenty of shields to help protect us. I just have to decide when to use them for all of us."

"Ruff! Ruff!"

Colombo's barks made Luigi look up to see a lightning bolt hurl towards them. He flipped the metal switch and pushed the green button to defend all four from the lightning. However, the plumber forgot it was capable of piercing the barrier. It barely missed Tails and Sonic, but Luigi was struck in the chest. He slammed into the tree trunk. His left arm ended up touching a sharp end of a Dark Shard.

"OW! God..." he caught himself from blurting out an expletive. Nonetheless, he hissed from the pain.

"Luigi!" Sonic and Tails quickly helped him up. They saw a hole through the sleeve as a bit of blood dripped out.

"Geez, that's got to hurt," Sonic cringed.

"Are you alright?"

"Of course I'm not." He took out and ate a Mushroom to heal himself. "I forgot that I can't defend myself or anyone else from the lightning."

"But where did it come from?"

"Where else?" Luigi glared at something. In the distance, he saw the source of the lightning from miles away. There was a tall figure flying over towards Peach's Castle. "Come on," he sprinted away after the Shriek Shield disintegrated.

"Luigi, wait!" Tails twirled his appendages and followed him. Sonic and Colombo sped off as they trailed behind Luigi and Tails into the town.

"Well, this is it," the hedgehog spoke to the Polterpup. "It's do or die, and I hope it's not the last option for us."

"Ruff!" Colombo agreed.

* * *

Passing through the main square, Luigi returned to the heart of Toad Town near the castle. Dark purple, glowing material with several piles of crystals emanated an ominous glow. The shards were scattered everywhere in sight. But it's not like the place has changed since he left for Vanilla Dome.

The man in green stopped running when he reached the front courtyard. Luigi confronted Myster Edge who lingered in front of the stained-glass window. As he glared at the dark creature, Tails, Sonic, and Colombo caught up to him.

The villain began to speak as the four heroes stood on the ground. "So, you guys have finally arrived. And at the right time, too. I'm just another step closer to destroying all worlds."

"No matter what you do, you'll never get away with this!" shouted Luigi.

"HAHAHAHA! Big talk from a small, puny human. Do you really think you're strong and brave enough to fight me? You're nothing but a pathetic, little wimp!" Edge retorted back at the man.

"Hey! Don't talk our friend like that!" snarled Sonic, standing on Luigi's left. "He is strong and brave! He has the power to send you to the depths of hell!"

Tails, who was to Luigi's right, jumped in on the confrontation. "You better give up now, or you'll regret it!"

Colombo gave his retort by growling furiously.

The dark entity couldn't help but chuckle at the so-called 'heroic' comments he heard.

"You should already know this by now. I am the one who caused the severe damage to your worlds. I am the one who manipulated hundreds of underlings to bow down to my service and fulfill my needs. I am the one who used the energy of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards to create the Oblivion, the dark holes you saw floating in the sky, which will consume everyone and everything. And when it's all over, I'll make sure you guys are the first three to die! And there's _nothing_ you can do."

Luigi clenched his fists as he felt his Thunderhand powering up. His thick eyebrows were lowered to reveal the anger building up inside him. His face showed a mix of emotions that he usually doesn't express in his previous adventures: determination, confidence, and most of all, bravery. However, he did express fear from his legs shaking. Nonetheless, he wasn't going to back down from here after how much he has been through.

The other heroes were also prepared for the showdown. The Blue Blur was busy stretching his legs and cracking his knuckles with an unamused look on his face. The two-tailed vulpine lowered his eyelids angrily as he clenched his right fist and punched his left hand with his twin tails from behind starting to spin. The Polterpup, who stood in front of the man, scratched his front and back paws, leaning back as if he was prepared to lunge at the enemy. All three would do anything to help their human friend out despite the difficult task they face upon.

Luigi spoke up to the monster again. "My friends and I will NOT succumb to you. We traveled through so far to the point where we will not simply back down and surrender. I'm gonna get my revenge for everything you've done to hurt me, my friends, and our worlds. So bring it on, bastard!"

"Hmm, I had never thought you look so brave, or at least act like you are. Nor have I believed you would curse like that," Edge teased sarcastically.

"I already told you this before in my dream. But if you want to know, I swear because I despise malicious people like you!" the man growled, pointing his finger at him.

The Shadow Spirit continued to mock him. "Not only that, but you must really care about your friends, especially the three idiots standing with you. I thought I told you to come here alone."

"Don't you _DARE_ ridicule them! They've helped me on this adventure, and they aren't scared of you at all! They're my friends, and they wanted to help me! I accepted it, and that's why they're here!"

"Speaking of your friends, would you like to see another 'buddy' of yours? I'm sure you'll recognize this person right off the bat."

"What the hell are you talking about?" Luigi questioned, revealing his clenched teeth.

"It's probably best to show you rather than tell you."

Edge then floated over to the left to reveal a strange figure from behind. Standing on the roof of the castle, there was a silhouette of a short, plump man who seems to be wearing something on his head. He hovered a couple inches in the air before he started to move slowly towards the quartet. As he floated forward, the image of the person became clearer. And like Myster Edge predicted, Luigi noticed who it is. His mouth was agape, completely shocked by this discovery.

He wished it was just a dream. A dream like the one he had before. But it wasn't. One of his nightmares came true.

"No… No! It, it _can't_ be!"

"What's wrong? Who is it?" said Tails.

It was at the time that the figure showed himself to the group. He displayed metallic equipment attached to his arms and legs, rocket boosters under his shoes, a shell guard protecting his body, and an ominous glow of white and purple emitting from his entire body. But it was his face that gave his identity away, making the other three drop their jaws simultaneously. He showed his two glaring, red eyes which used to be clear pools of blue, a thick, bushy mustache that was under his large nose, and a large, red cap with an 'M' on the front that rested on the top of his head.

"What?! But... You can't be serious!" Sonic was baffled.

"Arf..." Colombo took a few steps back hesitantly, slightly timid of the person since he knew him quite well.

After several seconds of stunned silence, his blue eyes shimmered with negative emotions. Luigi spoke hesitantly. "Mario..."

"Indeed. Who else, but your older brother."

Luigi instantly knew what was going on. Edge forced the real Tough Possessor to take control of Mario's body. In addition, he was somewhat roboticized with all that technical equipment attached to him. By the looks of it, Luigi faced a serious issue.

To capture the final Possessor ghost, he had to fight his own family. He had to fight the one person he looked up to whenever he was down. He had to fight the one who had been with since they were toddlers.

He had to fight Mario.

"Edge! I'll never forgive you for this and all the bad stuff you made me go through!"

"That's fine by me. You're going to have a 'friendly' fight with him if you want the actual and final Dark Moon piece. But regardless if you win or lose, you still have me to face. And if you do fall, I'll make sure to let Dimentio settle in his permanent host."

"Is he even back from the dead?" Sonic queried.

"Not yet."

"Then why are you waiting until later to revive him?" Tails didn't understand.

"Dimentio's spirit was perished in the Void many years ago. I want the same to happen to Luigi here in the Oblivion. Then, my friend will regain his ultimate form once again as he stands by my side for all eternity. And that's when we'll start our collaborative empire together. It will commence in less than two hours."

"Less than two hours?!" Luigi's eyes bulged wide open. "We were unconscious from Alpha's explosion for that long?!"

"Actually, no. I added a special sleeping spell to let you waste more time."

"So because of you, we were knocked out for sixteen hours?!" the kitsune fathomed. **_(3)_**

"That is correct."

"You're fucking sick," the hedgehog swore.

"What do you expect from a villain like myself?" He turned to gaze at Luigi. The plumber remained conflicted since the big reveal. "Tsk, hey, plumber boy."

Luigi glanced at Edge, changing his expression back to anger. "What?"

"You're no stranger when it comes to fighting your brother. So why do you think this is any different?"

"I never said this was different. I just loathe you for stooping this low."

"Oh, I appreciate the compliment." Luigi rolled his eyes. "Anyways, I'll leave you five alone. Have fun with what I hope to be is your last battle." Edge waved his staff to disappear from the scene.

Mario snickered creepily, talking to the others for the first time. "You idiots don't know what you're up against."

"Oh, I think we do, _Mario_ ," Sonic crossed his arms.

"Mario, hear me out," Luigi exhaled for a second. "You're under the influence by Tough, but I know you're still Mario deep down somewhere in there. If you could hear me, just stop everything, and we can try to fight against Edge altogether."

"Luigi, Luigi, Luigi," Mario shook his head. "You really think you can convince me to surrender? Not a chance. And besides, you're too useless to be a hero."

The green man was getting flashbacks of his nightmare when Mario ridiculed him.

"Don't talk to your brother like that, Mario," Sonic demanded.

"Why can't I?"

"Did you not listen to him? He's your brother!" Tails exclaimed.

"Please. I have no brother," the possessed Italian spat.

...

 _"You don't deserve me. You don't deserve to be my brother in the first place."_

...

Luigi suppressed his sadness as fury built up inside him.

"I don't care if you have more to say. I'm just going to dismiss everything. Besides, we're here for our own reasons. You're trying to defeat Edge, and I'm here to best Luigi so that Myster Edge can finally begin Dimentio's resurrection. So, let's get this over with, shall we?"

Sonic prepared himself again. "Well, we can't turn back now."

Tails bit his lower lip. "You're right, Sonic. We have to do this. You ready, Luigi?"

Colombo gave his owner a look, wondering what he was thinking. "Arf?"

 _"I'm sorry, bro."_ The plumber blinked once, slightly lowered the bill of his hat, and grunted with a mean death stare. "Let's-a-go."

Mario made the first move by zooming right at his brother. He extended a fist that emitted heat, except it was from his Firebrand technique instead of the Fire Flower power-up. **_(4)_** Luigi saw this and countered him with a bolt of thunder from his free hand. Mario was slightly stunned as his body was somewhat shocked. But he waved the attack off and punched Luigi in the face. The green man went flying back as a scorched spot appeared on his cheek.

"Urgh... That's gonna leave a mark. Should've used a Shriek Shield."

Sonic retaliated by trying to perform a spin dash. Mario flew upwards to prevent getting hit. He followed through with a powerful ground pound to slam him onto the solid surface. Tails dove at Mario and pushed him off his best friend. He whipped his namesakes at the possessed man to get a few knocks. However, Mario gripped the white-furred tips tightly and swung him around before he went soaring away. Sonic quickly got on his feet and rushed over before Tails could hit the ground.

"Gotcha, buddy!" he caught the fox.

"Oh... Thanks, Sonic," Tails breathed.

He set his friend down and shifted towards Mario with a boiling attitude. At the moment, Colombo hopped off the ground to try and pull Mario down from the air. Luigi returned to utilize his Thunderhand. Since he was focused on the others, Sonic dashed right at him and curled into a ball. With a homing attack, he pounced Mario into a tree.

"You try to hurt Tails like that, you're going to regret it."

"Bring it on, hedgehog," Mario muttered as he swiftly got up.

The two went head to head, grabbing each other by the shoulders and rolling around on the ground like a wrestling match. When Sonic tried to restrain his arms, Mario used his feet to kick him in the stomach. Once he was off, he flew right at the hedgehog. However, Tails intervened with a dirty punch to his shell guard. Mario was propelled away and toward Luigi's path. The green plumber charged his Thunderhand and sent two bolts at his body to cause some cracks on his defensive gear.

"Like that's going to stop me." Mario hastened at Luigi, but the younger brother protected himself with a Shriek Shield. As he struck the barrier, Luigi was sent a couple feet back, but he remained unscathed. "Coward."

"Better than safe than sorry," he replied.

"Well then, I'm _sorry_ that you have to die soon."

"Not on our watch," Sonic and Tails said simultaneously. The duo sped right at Mario before he could do anything. They tackled him to the ground.

"Luigi! Get rid of his guard!" Sonic shouted.

He did what he was told and used more of his thunder to shatter the shell that protected his abdomen. When another bolt shocked him in the torso, Mario shook in agony, yelling in pain. A part of Luigi's heart died inside as he saw him on the ground from the pain he inflicted. Even though he hated to hurt his family, he didn't have any other options.

Then, Tough shrieked as he exited out of Mario in a quick second. Sonic and Tails were pushed away to the sides of the red plumber, whose body went limp. Luigi grabbed the hose of the Poltergust to set up the Strobulb. With the light flickering on his flashlight, he waited for Tough to charge at him. Several waves of electricity shot forward in various directions as he rushed over. Luigi hurdled over one trail while Sonic and Tails jumped away. Colombo turned invisible as he was unharmed, too. The plumber ran away to cause Tough to run into the same tree Mario hit. As he became dizzy, Luigi released the light to catch the Possessor. Unlike his duplicate, there wasn't a paranormal shield surrounding him. He waited for the meter to fill up before sucking up the white skin off his body. Glowing in orange, Tough shook off the loss and repossessed Mario.

He got up on one knee. "Hmph... How dare you try to hurt _me_?!"

"You're my brother, and I'm sorry for doing that. But it's for our own good."

"I told you before, I have no brother."

"That doesn't mean I don't feel guilty about it."

"Then how about you feel pain instead?"

Mario's rockets flared as he flew up to the plumber. Luigi became safe again with another Shriek Shield, leaving him with six.

"Come and fight like a _real_ hero! OUCH!"

"Grr!" Colombo bit Mario on his left boot to disable the rocket booster. He later did the same to the right side. As his feet became impaired, he dropped to the ground.

"Get off of me!" he violently threw Colombo. Thankfully, Luigi was able to catch him. "If I can't fly, then I'll use my other technology!" Summoning an orange fireball in his left hand, he lit up his right arm that converted into a flamethrower. He (literally) fired away as a stream of red and orange burst from the nozzle. Colombo hopped out of the plumber's hands. Luigi scurried away from the flames.

Mario ran with the fire to potentially burn his foes. But Tails created a wind effect from his spinning appendages to incapacitate the flamethrower.

"They say you shouldn't run with scissors. I think the same should apply when you're dealing with fire."

"Urgh! You little- OOF!"

Sonic bumped into Mario from behind before following with another round of spin dashes. The yellow fox copied his moves while adding extra hits to the mechanical attachments from his tails. When Mario leaped onto his feet, he didn't have time to react to the thunder that dazed him and destroyed the rest of his robotic parts.

As his back landed on the cold ground, Tough was forced out a second time. He raised his hands over his five-horned head and tried to injure the Inseparable Duo. Luigi sent two more shields at them individually. Tails and Sonic spin dashed into the Possessor as he was busy floating around before coming to a complete stop. It was Luigi's turn to light up the Strobulb. When it was effective, Tough got startled and tried to escape the suction power of the vacuum. To his disadvantage, the orange skin peeled off as he was down to his final coating. Once he returned to Mario again, he sounded furious.

"You better stop right now!"

"Sorry, Mario. But we're not gonna listen to you this time!" Sonic shouted.

Then, something surprised him and the other heroes. Mario took out an item from his pocket. It was a mushroom with a large, bulbous amber cap and humongous red dots.

Luigi was familiar with the object. "Oh, no..."

Mario shoved the Mega Mushroom in his mouth, and the super effect allowed Mario transform into Mega Mario, where he grew in a humongous size and was capable of crushing almost everything, including people.

"Um, Luigi?" Tails stood next to him, arms spread out and eyes expressing fear.

"Yes, Tails?"

"What do we do?!"

"Arf?" Colombo whined.

"The super effect is never permanent, so it only lasts for a short while. We just got to wait for him to shrink back to normal size before he tries to crush us or become big again, if he has more."

"So what's the plan?" Sonic asked.

"RUN!" Luigi rapidly darted when he saw the sole of his humongous boot. Sonic, Tails, and Colombo also got out of the way as the foot came down. Mario barely missed them.

"GET BACK HERE!" he roared.

Sonic and Tails may be fast, but Mega Mario was able to catch up to the Mobians. The two were caught in Mega Mario's grip.

"Tails! Sonic!" Luigi cried. Unfortunately, Colombo was also trapped in the same hand, unable to become invisible as he also yowled in agony.

"NO!"

Mario chuckled evilly as he continued to hurt them even more.

"MARIO, STOP!"

He stared down at him. "I don't think so, Luigi."

"I beg of you, let them go now!"

"Or what? What do you think you're going to do to me?"

 _"Come on... Shrink already!"_ Luigi panicked in his mind. He never expected the mega effect to last this long. But since he remained huge, Mario effortlessly grabbed Luigi in the other hand.

"I guess doing nothing was your choice. Too bad it didn't help you win this time." He squeezed him tightly with his fingers.

"AAHHH!"

"Luigi!" his friends screamed. Colombo barked twice, distressed to see him struggling.

"You'll never be strong! And you'll never be a hero! You'll always be Player 2 and a bad one, no doubt!"

Luigi shook with his eyes shut.

"Everyone will be disappointed in you. They'll consider you as the worst person on the planet, or rather the worst person in the entire universe. But it's probably what they think of you that way since the beginning."

"That's absolutely false!" Tails hissed.

"Don't listen to him, Luigi!" Sonic told him.

Bad thoughts. Negative emotions. Hands tingling.

"Myster Edge really does know the truth. You're pathetic." Suddenly, Mario hurled the plumber straight down in the ground.

"LUIGI!"

"BARK! BARK!"

The three were horrified at the sight. They saw their green-clad companion land harshly and didn't move a muscle after the hurtful impact. Tails was forming tears in his eyes. Sonic was filled with anxiety and ire at the sight. Colombo whimpered as he shook his head, unable to accept the fact that he was possibly dead.

Mario boomed with excitement. "Oh-ho-ho! He's finally done for!"

"NO! He can't be!" Tails denied.

"You're going to pay for this!" Sonic bellowed.

"Oh, please. What's going to happen next? You're stuck in my grasp, your partner is useless, and- AAHHH!"

Mario screeched when his right hand got zapped by something. Colombo, Tails, and Sonic all fell out of his grip as Mario shook his hand in discomfort. And to everyone's surprise, Luigi, panting heavily with bruises on his skin and debris on his clothes, had an arm out, indicating that he exploited his Thunderhand. Again, he remained controllable despite the mean things Mario said to him. All that mattered was helping his own cause.

"You goddamn-"

Mario couldn't finish as Luigi sent more thunder to jolt his entire physique. The Mega Mushroom powers were finally nullified as Mario returned to normal size. Luigi went running to deliver a powerful, yet extremely regrettable punch to his face with more thunder. Mario bounced around on different parts of his body before landing on his back.

The Tough Possessor revealed himself with his red, vulnerable skin. He did his charge attack again, but it proved invaluable when he bumped into Luigi who defended himself with another Shriek Shield. Feeling dazed from the hit, the plumber stunned him for the final time and filled up the suction meter to the max. Tough was not able to escape as he was confined in the Poltergust 6000. The vacuum shook, and the final Dark Moon fragment popped out of the nozzle, landing in front of Luigi. His friends ran over to the green man.

"Luigi?" Tails tilted his head.

The man slowly ambled to the glowing piece. His eyes weren't deceived. It was the real deal. Luigi has beaten all of the Possessors, and he reclaimed all of the broken pieces of the Dark Moon. He took a deep breath of relief after the intense battle. Then, he rotated to face the others and showed off a genuine smile.

"We did it."

Sonic smirked as he walked to him and patted his shoulder. "Luigi, you were excellent out there. Great job, buddy!"

"Couldn't have said it better myself!" Tails added.

"Ruff!" Colombo wagged his tail.

Luigi's smile soon disappeared when he looked over at Mario. His friends also noticed his expression. The four went over to see how banged up he looked. He was dealt with scars, bruises, cuts, and singed patches on his shirt and overalls.

"I'm sorry, fratello."

"Don't worry, man. You had no choice. I'm sure he'll understand once he comes to," Sonic reassured him.

"Now all that's left is for us to fight Myster Edge before time runs out," Tails was worried.

"Guys?"

"Yeah, Luigi?"

His face seemed to be filled with regret again. But this was for a different reason.

"You're not going to face him."

"What?" Sonic was confused.

Luigi held out the corrupted Dark Moon piece and handed it to the hedgehog. "You guys have to do me a huge favor."

"What are you doing?" Tails didn't apprehend.

"This is nothing personal, but I'm not letting you come with me any further."

"Huh?"

"I'm sending you all back to Professor E. Gadd."

"Luigi, are you serious?"

"No, I'm not, Sonic. Mario's unconscious, and I can't take him near Edge again in case he tries to harm him when he's unattended. And I can't just leave him here. He must be taken to his bunker to recover."

"But what does sending _us_ back have to do with this?"

"I'm following Edge's message from before. I'm not letting you die because of me."

"Luigi, are you out of your mind?!"

"Yes, I am," he remained calm.

"But you can't do that, Luigi!" said Tails. Colombo added with a desperate whine.

"I will do it."

"No, Luigi. We're not going to leave you alone like this. We promised to help you!" Sonic argued.

"And you fulfilled it. But this is where I draw the line."

"For what?! Your possible demise?! Luigi, listen to me! We came all this way to support your back, and now you're going to shove us away like we're dirt? Are you selfish or something?"

"I'm doing what I think is right. And that's to not let you guys or Mario get hurt or die from Edge."

"But what about you?" Tails questioned.

"Either I die with everything else, I die alone, or survive the cataclysm."

"You better hope it's the last option," Sonic shook his head.

"And that's what I'm aiming for."

"Well that's too bad, because we're not going to leave!"

"Then you leave me with no choice."

Luigi pulled out the Emergency Egressor and pressed the 'L' and 'R' buttons at the same time. He threw it to Tails as he caught the Joy-Con Grip. Luigi then ran to avoid the five-foot radius limit. And to be extra safe, he shot a Shriek Shield to surround Sonic, Tails, Colombo, and his unconscious brother.

"Luigi, no! Don't do this!" Sonic yelled.

"We don't want you to die!" Tails wailed.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo was terrified.

The green man could only shake his head and express a sad smile. "Tell Mario that I'm sorry for what I did, and I'll always love him no matter what. And for you guys, I'm sorry as well."

"LUIGI!"

By then, the Egressor caused a light to shine over them. It got larger for a few seconds until it quickly shrunk into a dot and exploded. Luigi covered his face with a hand. When the light dissipated, he lowered it down and sighed. His friends were gone, and he was all alone. However, this was what he wanted in the first place.

"Thank you, guys. For everything." He took another deep breath. "I have to do this. I have to be strong and brave. I must defeat Myster Edge, and even Dimentio again. There's no turning back now."

Luigi began his leave to find Blumiere's brother. He could be anywhere at this point, and it would be too late if he wasn't able to find him in time. But Luigi had a strong hunch that he was waiting in a specific location. He headed north to return to Star Hill.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Alright, question time. Do you think Luigi was smart to send his friends back to the Mushroom Kingdom safely, even if it means that he could be trapped in the Oblivion? Or do you think he was foolish to think that he can handle the upcoming final boss battle alone? You tell me, because I'm the asshole who's forcing him to go solo. Basically what am I asking is, did I make the plot more interesting or absolutely terrible from this decision?_

 _Nevertheless, after that abrupt ending, we shall see how our green protagonist will confront the Shadow Spirit who started all this madness and chaos. Furthermore, the revival of Dimentio is imminent..._

 _This is the first chapter I've written that has surpassed 7000 words excluding the A/N's and PCNs. And we're coming down to the wire as four more chapters remain here on Hidden Bravery. Please review, follow/favorite, and prepare for the next major showdown: Luigi vs. Myster Edge. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I wanted the chapter title to be a knockoff of a_ _Super Smash Bros._ _title, and it was either going to be 'Melee' or 'Brawl'. I went with the second choice since Sonic was introduced into the_ _Smash_ _series for the first time from that specific game._

 ** _(2):_** _Remember how I mentioned the place where Tippi and Blumiere were sent to after the events of_ _Super Paper Mario_ _? I decided to name the location based on the musical piece, 'Memory', that was played during certain segments in the game, including the flashbacks and the end of the credits._

 ** _(3):_** _This PCN is added to establish the reason why Luigi has less time to save the worlds. This negates the entirety of my previous plan where I had time go faster in the Oblivion compared to the actual worlds._

 ** _(4):_** _Like Luigi's Thunderhand, Mario had his own hand power from M&L: Superstar Saga. Fittingly for Mario, it was the Firebrand, and this will be the only time I will implement this technique in the story._


	57. Ch 56: Thunder vs Lightning

_A/N: To start off, I need to clear something up with a certain guest reviewer. If by any chance you're reading this message, the only thing I can say is that if you feel that way, then there's no purpose to continue reading. Despite your responses, you were only ten chapters in (assuming from your last comment). And I will admit, the beginning is not very compelling._

 _However, maybe your opinion will change in later chapters if you do decide to continue from where you stopped. The character development may be static or dynamic, but it differs based on the situation. And even though most of the battles may seem anticlimactic, I tried my best to at least describe them in detail to help the readers visualize them in their minds. Plus, the parts where the characters just "bitch at each other" is mainly there for conflict or tension, both in major and minor moments like that. I'm not the only one who has done this._

 _Otherwise, if you really don't like it, then that's your opinion. Call it constructive criticism or negative feedback, I'll accept it. But you know what? I'm just going to move on. I want to finish this fanfic because I'm close to completing it. That's all I will say._

 _Now with that out of the way..._

 _After an amazing E3 (that I watched in the comforts of my home), I'm back again with another chapter of Hidden Bravery! We last left off with Luigi, Colombo, Sonic, and Tails defeating a possessed Mario. But after our green-clad hero bested him and the Tough Possessor, and retrieved the last Dark Moon fragment, he made a bold move to send everyone else back to E. Gadd's lab with not a lot of time left to save the worlds._

 _Like some of you guys have mentioned in the reviews, Luigi will have to come out of his shell to exhibit the bravery that is hidden inside of him. That's because in this chapter, it is time for him to encounter another big clash, going against the one who started all this mayhem and targeted him in the first place. Get ready for a battle between..._

 ** _*NOTE: This chapter has been re-edited because of the time cycle of how long Luigi has to defeat Myster Edge._**

* * *

 _Disclaimer: This story and my original characters still remain under my ownership. Mario and Sonic are respectively copyrighted by Nintendo and Sega._

* * *

 **Chapter 56:** Thunder vs. Lightning

 _Location: Boo Woods_

It was early in the morning at the Mushroom Kingdom. But to start the day, everything was covered in darkness. No, there wasn't an overlay of rain clouds that was ready for a massive storm. The Oblivion had grown extremely large to the point where the sky was hardly visible. All the eyes could see was a huge array of purple and black glitches and clouds.

And by eyes, the only pairs of them in the vicinity were from the old professor and his Greenie ghost partner. E. Gadd and Zephyr had to defend the bunker and Luigi's mansion when the Shadelings came by to attack the forest. The professor kept the original Poltergust 5000 that Luigi used in his Dark Moon quest since he gave him the upgraded 6000 version. Although he didn't face any ghosts, he activated the Strobulb to daze the enemies with the strong light. Afterward, Zephyr would punch them or strike them with some of the professor's tools. Wrenches, hammers, saws, you name it. At least the ghost was careful not to accidentally hurt E. Gadd in some way.

By the time the Shadelings discontinued from invading the area, E. Gadd and Zephyr waited anxiously for a glimmer of hope, as in the return of the heroes and the Oblivion disappearing for good. They could only wonder what was going on as they lingered in the lab.

"Eight o'clock," E. Gadd mumbled to himself as he stared at the clock on the wall. He walked over to Zephyr who was floating near the computer. He jumped back onto his high chair. "Those fellers should have found Edge by now. It's been nearly a full day, yet it's quite possible that something went awry."

Suddenly, Zephyr made some sounds and tapped Gadd's shoulder when he noticed something on the computer. A signal was blinking repeatedly.

"It's coming from the Emergency Egressor! Hohoho! The boys have done it! Let's go congratulate them!"

When E. Gadd designed the Egressor, he hooked up to a teleportation capsule which was where the guys would appear after activating the device. At the top, a light bulb turned on, and a rotating mechanism spun very quickly. Soon after, four figures emerged inside the capsule.

"Yes! It worked! Welcome ba-" the old man paused when he looked at the sight in front of him. He rubbed his glasses to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Zephyr had the same expression, confusion written on his face.

"Professor!" Tails opened the door and ran to him first. He wasn't happy at the slightest.

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo followed after him, whining with fright. What was behind the two caught E. Gadd and Zephyr off guard. They saw Sonic carrying a beaten-up Mario in his hands.

"Criminy! What happened here?!"

"You won't believe it when we tell you," Tails answered.

"Wait... Where's Luigi?"

Tails' ears folded back while fear was in his eyes. Colombo wailed again as he stared down at the marble floor. Biting his lip, Sonic shifted from the unconscious plumber to the professor and the Greenie who were anxious to hear.

"Luigi's still in the Oblivion. And he's stuck there."

When the statement finally hit them, E. Gadd and Zephyr became horrified. "He's what?!"

* * *

 _Location: Peach's Castle_

Over the past several hours in the morning, Toad Town remained safe without any signs of danger. Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, and the Toads managed to defend the main region of the Mushroom Kingdom. They have also received word that the other places were safe, too. That included everywhere in Mobius, Yoshi's Island, Kongo Jungle, and Bowser's Castle. Although none of the people knew the reason for why the robots stopped invading, it was a sigh of relief for everyone. Nonetheless, everyone reported that the Oblivion continued to enlarge in the skies, meaning that it still wasn't over. Just in case another invasion might commence, everyone resided from where they were.

At the moment, Wario and Waluigi were in the castle's kitchen, stealing some ingredients to make their own breakfast. The princesses and the Toads couldn't care less about food as they were in the dining room. Peach was pacing back and forth in front of the large table while the others sat in the chairs.

"Princess, do you want to take a seat?" Toadsworth offered. "You've been standing all day and night from fighting and waiting for the heroes to stop this madness."

"I agree, Peach," Daisy cared for her friend. "You deserve a break. You did a good job beating up those robots back then, but you've hardly gotten any rest."

"I'm surprised you would say that, Daisy."

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you were worried about Luigi."

"Of course I'm concerned about him. But I've gotten more confident that he can handle Edge."

"But at this point, he and the others only have about an hour left to save the worlds from that fiend. You remember what Knuckles explained, right? We had five full days since he created the Oblivion, both here and in Mobius. Well, four days and twenty-three hours later, we're on the brink of losing everything!"

"And you're afraid you'd lose Mario?"

Peach lowered her head. "Yes."

"I feel the same way about Luigi. As well as our friends and all the others we know. Of course, you can count out Wario, Waluigi, and basically everyone in Bowser's clan." Peach couldn't help but giggle at her comment. "But it's not over yet. Anything can happen in an hour."

Peach nodded and hoped for the best. Eventually, everyone heard a ringing sound.

"I'll get it!" Toad jumped out of his seat. He ran over and picked up the phone. "Hello? Yes, she's here. Sure, I'll give it to her." Toad headed back to the dining room. "It's for you, Princess."

"Who is it?" Toadette wondered.

"It's Tails."

"Tails?" Peach blinked. "Hello?"

"Princess Peach! Are you and the others safe?"

"Yes, we are. We're all in the castle, and the rest of our friends are still back at their respective locations."

"Thanks Chaos for that. But we got some bad news."

"We? Hang on, aren't you supposed to be in the Oblivion with Sonic, Colombo, and Luigi?"

"Yeah, we were, but you have to come over to E. Gadd's lab! We'll explain it from there!"

"Tails, I don't understand. What's going on?" Everyone stared at Peach, wondering what the fox was saying on the other line.

"Mario's back!"

She widened her blue eyes. "He... He is?!"

"Yes! But there's more to it! Just come here, ASAP!"

"Okay, Tails. We'll be there. Thank you." She hung up the phone with a mix of solace and apprehension. "We need to go to Boo Woods. Mario has returned."

"Really?!" everyone yelled.

"Uh-huh. But apparently there's something strange going on. We have to find out what it is."

"Then we better not dawdle here! Let's get going!" demanded Daisy, hoping Luigi was safe as well.

As the five left the castle, Wario and Waluigi entered the dining room with their hands full, carrying plates of food. As soon as they placed them down on the table, they noticed that they were the only ones there.

"Hey, where did they go?" Waluigi scratched his head.

"Eh, who cares? This may be our last meal together anyway. If so, might as well end with something mouthwatering." Wario grabbed a fork and knife to carve up his steak and eggs. He added salt and garlic as a seasoning.

Waluigi shrugged to himself as he dug into his plate of eggplant parmesan. **_(1)_** "You think Luigi's gonna stop that weird guy?"

The obese man chewed on his medium cooked meat before responding. "Who, Myster Edge? I don't know. Part of me wants him to win, but that's only because it would suck if we're all gonna be gone soon. I don't like Luigi, but this is something different."

"You're telling me. After all, he's technically my main rival as Mario is yours."

"True. But despite our rivalry against both of them, I don't think it would be nice if they actually lost to someone more powerful than Bowser. That'd be ridiculous."

"So, what now?"

"It's just a waiting game. Either we all decease, or Luigi saves everyone's lives. We won't know until later."

"I guess you're right," said Waluigi, devouring another piece of his eggplant.

* * *

 _Location: The Oblivion_

Making his way back to where he first started with Colombo, Tails, and Sonic, the green-clothed ghost hunter stood at the base of the purple mountain. Where shooting stars normally fell in the actual Mushroom Kingdom, the only things that glimmered in the purple and black stretch were the piles of Dark Shards. After capturing the Tough Possessor and knocking out his older brother who was influenced by said ghost, Luigi sent Mario and the others to Professor E. Gadd's bunker. But after all, it was his choice to prevent them from being hurt by Myster Edge. And now, he was on his own.

Luigi expected to locate the purple, cloaked Shadow Spirit at the apex of Star Hill, or rather than the copy of this area. His assumption was proven correct when he barely discerned the glow of the seven Chaos Emeralds inside the glass orb of a scepter. It was clutched inside the villain's right hand. Edge later came into full view for Luigi to see. And from a large, vertical distance, both entities glared at one another.

 _"Of course the plumber survived,"_ Edge thought. _"That's no matter though. I have him right where I want him to be. He has no way to escape me or this dark prison."_

 _"Edge, I'm no longer going to be afraid of you. This is personal business from here on."_

With that, Luigi climbed the rocky steps to reach his enemy. Edge didn't do anything this time to interfere. He allowed the hero to scale the mountain until he finally came face to face for what would be their last encounter. Edge rotated around until he saw two half-lidded eyes of blue with a cross expression. He stood across on the other side of the hill's surface. The antagonist sneered at the human.

"I should've known you would make it here. But it was bound to happen, regardless if you and your annoying animal friends won or failed against my last servant." He then paused to emit a heartless chuckle. "Speaking of which, how did it feel to beat up someone you personally know, especially when he's in your family?"

Luigi knew he was trying to delve deep into his skin. But unlike many previous times, whether they have occurred in his dreams or in real life, the spiteful words weren't going to affect him this time. He had enough of Edge's tyranny after too many instances of torture. He quietly replied with a bolt of thunder, shooting directly at the tall figure.

Edge surprisingly didn't see this the attack coming, and he received a blow to the chest. His nerves were instantly shocked by the intensity. Luigi remained neutral, but deep down, he admired dealing pain to him for the first time. Who would've thought the green man, known to be timid, unfortunate, and mostly forgotten, felt prideful for performing a sadistic action this one time?

When Edge stopped shaking, he gazed back at the Italian. "Did you really think that was going to kill me?"

"Of course not. But I'm confident that with my thunder ability, I can and _will_ defeat you once and for all."

"Foolish plumber. I told you before that you can never find a way to defeat me. I am too powerful to be overthrown by such a pathetic weakling."

"That's funny. Minus the weak part, I also find you pathetic, because you always seem to hurt me when I don't expect it. If you want a real fight, you should at least make things fair and balanced."

"Pfft, neither of those words are in my vocabulary."

"Then I guess I can include 'stupid' to your repertoire."

Edge grunted. "Alright. Enough with your useless comebacks." He waved his staff to create an thirty-foot, impenetrable wall around the perimeter of the summit. "I'm going to officially end you for good. You may have said that you got thunder by your side, but everyone knows that lightning always comes before it. And in this case, it will exceed your terrible attempt to oust me."

"We'll see about that," Luigi rolled up his sleeves and clenched his fists with the shocking sensation.

* * *

Peach was the first to enter the lab, and she hurried over to the guest room after Tails let her, Daisy, and the Toads inside. As soon as she reached the doorway, she saw Mario resting in the bed. Sonic was carefully moving the unconscious plumber's right leg onto a pillow while Zephyr tended to his injuries with the first aid kit. Colombo laid near his arm with a solemn look.

"Oh, dear..." the princess was distraught at the sight.

Sonic looked up with a frown. "Glad you're here, Peach." His face didn't show it though.

"Where's the professor?"

"In the kitchen. He's brewing more tea, only this time it's to hopefully wake Mario up."

Daisy, Toad, Toadette, and Toadsworth followed inside with Tails behind them. Everyone was surprised at the red man's appearance.

"Good heavens!" Toadsworth placed a hand on his cheek. "What happened?"

"It's a long story," Tails shook his head.

"You have to tell us now. Where's Luigi?" Daisy desperately asked.

Tails cleared his throat. "Okay. So, the four of us, Sonic, Colombo, Luigi, and me, went into the Oblivion and landed in a similar variant of Star Hill. Basically, the inside of the Oblivion was like an alternate, duplicate universe of the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Really?" Toad and Toadette were astonished.

"Uh-huh. We then ventured to where Peach's Castle was located. We managed to fight off Slimmer and Clawdio. Luigi and Colombo managed to shut down a supercomputer that caused the assembly lines of Shadelings to be transported to all of the worlds with the Oblivion holes above them."

"So that's why they stopped coming into our worlds," Peach realized.

"I assume it took place in the middle of the night, correct?"

"Indeed. But how did you know?" Toadsworth wondered.

Sonic stepped away from the bed and joined the group circle. "We found out from Alpha when he pursued him in the Vanilla Dome copy. Originally, we only had eighteen hours remaining."

"What happened after that?" Toad questioned.

"Alpha made an unexpected attempt to kill us with a bomb rigged to his circuits," Tails explained. "Luigi was lucky enough to defend us with a shield. We blasted back to Toad Town and became unconscious. We could've woken up early if Edge didn't cast us under a sleeping spell to knock us out for eighteen hours. He then came over to attack Luigi yet again."

"And?" Daisy pressed on, even though she was extremely anxious.

"Well, you just saw Mario sleeping," Sonic pointed behind. "When Edge took him away at the Treacherous Mansion, he was roboticized."

Peach gasped. "What?!"

"That's not the worst part. Edge managed to make the Tough Possessor control Mario."

"You mean he got possessed?!" Toadette looked scared.

Sonic nodded. "Which meant we had to fight him, as much as we hated to do so, especially Luigi."

"But why are you guys here, and Luigi isn't?" Daisy clenched a fist.

Tails sighed despondently as he faced the floor. "He didn't want us to move on with him. Beforehand, Professor E. Gadd gave him a device called the Emergency Egressor to transport us back to his bunker safely. The plan was to use it once we rescued Mario and after we defeated Edge. But Luigi decided to keep us safe and let us restore Mario as he stayed in the Oblivion to counter the Shadow Spirit. So, he activated the Egressor and trapped us in a Shriek Shield so Luigi wouldn't leave with us even if we tried to do something. We told E. Gadd all of this when he and Zephyr were surprised to see us back without him. And that's why I called you here, too."

Daisy was utterly shocked to the point where she could potentially faint. In addition. Peach and the Toads were frightened.

"I can't believe Master Luigi would do such a thing. And you're sure he's stuck in the Oblivion?" Toadsworth held his cane tightly.

"Yes, he is," the blue hedgehog mumbled.

"And he's facing Myster Edge alone?" Toadette queried.

"Mm-hmm."

"But, how is he going to escape, whether or not the Oblivion disappears?"

Tails and Sonic wished they could answer Toad's question. But they didn't say anything.

Peach turned around and stood next to the bed. She kneeled on the floor near Mario's left hand. She gently grasped it, hoping there was some feeling inside that he was okay. Colombo just watched from his spot. Zephyr, who set down the first aid kit, also stared with empathy.

"Mario, please wake up," she begged softly.

"Once he does, he's probably gonna ask the same thing," Sonic placed a hand on his hip.

"And when we have to tell him... I don't want to imagine how he's going to react," Tails crossed his arms. Zephyr, Colombo, and the Toads agreed to that.

Daisy exited the room to be alone for a second. Looking outside one of the bunker windows, she glanced at the massive black hole. Even though he entered in the one above Star Hill, Luigi was still somewhere in there.

 _"Oh, Luigi... Please be okay up there."_

* * *

The stakes were higher, and the tension grew larger than ever. Luigi was about to induce combat against Myster Edge, something he had never done once since he initially met him on the night of his birthday.

He shot out another bolt of thunder at the monster. Edge deflected it with his staff. He retaliated back by sending streaks of lightning right at the plumber. Since Luigi was aware of this, he back flipped and shifted to his left, dodging the attacks. The two went at this for the first several minutes of the fight.

"Hmph, you finally decide to not get hurt this time," Edge taunted and sent another lightning strike.

Luigi huffed as he jumped over the orb. "Don't patronize me, you prick." He resumed charging up his hand powers again. "THUNDER!" he boomed.

Edge teleported a couple feet to his right to evade the first bolt, then he flew upwards to avoid the second one. The Shadow Spirit eventually zoomed towards the ghost hunter with his staff aimed at his chest. Luigi crouched with his legs and utilized his signature super jump to leap up in time. Edge hardly had time to stop, but he managed to not crash into the wall. Nonetheless, Luigi pounded the enemy's head with his boots.

"Lucky chance," he grunted.

"Beg to differ. You just didn't see it coming, like all your stupid attacks on me."

With another growl, Edge clutched his scepter with the Chaos Emeralds shining inside. He released a massive wave of light to blind Luigi. Unfortunately, the hero's arm and closed eyes weren't enough to avoid being sightless. The Shadow Spirit followed his previous tactic by ramming the orb part of his staff into his chest. Luigi was pushed against the glowing partition in pain. Resisting the pain, he pushed Edge back with his hands and feet. He later flashed another thunderbolt. It got a piece of Edge's left arm.

"OW! Damn it! Take this, you pushover!" This time, he unleashed a burning laser.

Luigi gasped when he almost got scorched in the forehead had he not ducked down. He rolled into a somersault when Edge tried to lunge at him again. Going under the tall figure, Luigi stood back up and went for a punch with his thunder. The electric feeling made contact with Edge's cheek. Luigi hopped back to catch his breath and ate his only Ultra Shroom to regain all the health he lost. Edge fired more lightning orbs from the glass sphere. The plumber had to dodge and weave from the flying projectiles, and he crouched down when Edge came into close proximity. The Shadow Spirit immediately went back to action as he sent a jolt to Luigi's abdomen.

"AAHHH!" he went flying into the wall. He got back up quickly since Edge attempted to stab him with the scepter once more. Luigi triple jumped to the other side of the summit as Edge rebounded off the wall. When he tried to zip at him, the man counteracted with more thunder as he sent the beast several feet back.

"Playing dirty, huh? Then I'll do the same!"

Edge transported with his magic as he unexpectedly appeared right behind Luigi. The plumber was too late to notice this when he turned around. Edge thrusted his weapon at Luigi, and his head sustained some damage when he hit the wall. He couldn't get up in time when Edge grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and threw him high into the air. The antagonist didn't hold back as he swung the staff to maltreat him. Across his face, on the upper arms, at the shins, and against his spine. Luigi landed on his stomach with his arms and legs spread out in searing pain. He wheezed heavily and tried to stand up, but his body wouldn't let him. He couldn't believe he let himself down that easily and quickly.

 _"N-No... H-How did I fail that easily? I-I c-can't get up..."_

Edge chuckled to himself to mock the fallen man. "I told you before. There is no way you can outsmart or whitewash me. I'm way too strong for a wretched, pint-sized wimp like you."

...

 _"You're nothing but a pushover. A pacifist. A loser."_

...

The bad thoughts came back to haunt him. He remained still on the cold, hard ground.

"You're absolutely useless in every single way. It's quite amusing that your friends think you're capable enough to stop me and save everything. They're all idiots for believing in you."

...

 _"Once I get rid of every disgusting world for good, I shall construct a new empire to my liking. What's best about it is that **you** won't be here to interfere with me."_

...

"And so I reiterate, I will take over the entire universe with my own powerful domain. By the time I revive Dimentio, it's gonna be game over for you and everyone else! And it will be all your fault!"

Edge didn't notice as he goaded, but the plumber clenched his right hand into a fist. Static was glistening from the glove. Although he wasn't completely back to consciousness, his mind transitioned from Edge's taunts to various moments in his previous travels.

...

 _"Luigi! You did it! You were amazing!"_

...

He remembered how Mario was proud of him after he captured the Grouchy Possessor. Albeit he was slightly embarrassed when his older brother congratulated him, he felt pleased whenever Mario appreciated his efforts.

...

 _"I understand why you're scared, but deep down inside, somewhere in your heart, there's a glimmer of hope where you're strong and brave enough to overcome this. You're just like Mario, only a little more compassionate and less pugnacious. I know you're not one who likes to brawl. Nonetheless, you're a fighting man, Luigi. You just need to believe in yourself."_

...

Luigi recalled the time Princess Peach reassured him when they were in Emerald Hill Zone. Her endearing voice and kind voice made him relax whenever he was troubled.

...

 _"Luigi, you **are** strong and brave. I don't care about your fears or weaknesses. Those things don't overpower your other traits. You're kind, sweet, unselfish, and handsome in my eyes. That's why I like you."_

...

Of course, Luigi always felt very content whenever Daisy accompanied him. And the fact that she loves him for who he is goes to show how grateful he was whenever the two were together.

...

 _"Luigi, you have the passion to fight, defend, and persevere. You have the heart to save your brother, your friends, and all of these worlds. You may be the key to fulfilling Edge's dastardly plan, but I believe you can counter him with your powers and abilities."_

...

The last conversation he had with the professor before he entered the Oblivion warmed his heart and soul. E. Gadd was a kind friend to Luigi and did everything he could to help him rescue Mario from the times he got kidnapped by King Boo. And he did so much to help him in this quest, too.

The other thoughts and memories were recollected in his mind. Whenever Tails, Sonic, and Colombo joined him and Mario in their journey to find their missing friends. And whenever he teamed up with them or his other pals, he was running like a well-oiled machine, exemplifying his teamwork and good chemistry to stop Myster Edge's bad guys. And the times where they all praised or cared for him gave Luigi a reason to continue his perilous adventure.

...

 _"You are a hero in my eyes, and I'm positive our friends think that way, too. So what if others don't agree? So what if they don't see the bravery that's hidden inside you? That doesn't mean you should conceal yourself from the outside."_

...

That speech from Mario... It happened after they had their huge fight at the Toadley Clinic and made up for their wrongs. Mario truly believed him. Daisy believed in him. Sonic and Tails believed in him. Colombo, E. Gadd, Peach, and everyone else who supported him thought he was great. Even Lady Timpani and Count Blumiere were confident that he was brave and strong. The only ones who didn't think much about it were Bowser, Eggman, and obviously Edge, along with a few others. Regardless, Luigi thought to himself. He realized he had done a lot more than he originally thought. And that's because he persevered despite all the difficulties he faced. This was indeed his most excruciating task, but he could not afford to surrender. By then, he charged up both hands, waiting for the right moment.

"What? You're not going to respond, let alone attack me? Ha! You've proven my statement yet again. Only this time, you're making yourself look like a bigger fool than before. Oh, well. I guess it's time to-"

"THUNDER!"

Edge was caught in a terrible twist of fate when Luigi burst out of the scene with two bolts. One of them electrified his chest while the other was aimed at his staff. When Edge was stunned, he didn't realize that the glass orb cracked from the impact. He was only focused on his target, puffing from the surprise attack and regaining some more health from his Mushrooms.

"GRR! You're going to fucking pay for that, you irritating worm!"

"That's what you think, bastard! Come at me! I dare you!"

"Oh, I'll fulfill that rather effortlessly."

Edge's cockiness got the better of him as he was ready to end the plumber's life. He zapped more lightning at the ghost hunter. Luigi fired back with more thunder. They continued their onslaught as a lightning orb and a bolt of thunder clashed in between the fighters. They were outstretched from Edge's scepter and Luigi's hand, respectively. They fought for dominance as they tried to overthrow the other person's powers. And shockingly enough (no pun intended), Luigi's Thunderhand was winning as the lightning started to deteriorate.

"Urgh! Come... ON!" the shadow struggled. To Luigi's delight, the lightning dissipated, and Edge lost that part of the match. He was able to shock him again as the monster collapsed to the ground. Edge panted heavily as he returned to midair.

"Give up yet?" Luigi gave a small smirk.

"You wish," he snarled and flew right at him again.

However, Luigi unexpectedly ducked, jumped high, and ground pounded on his cloaked head. After he landed backwards on a hand and knee, he delivered a harsh uppercut to Edge's jaw. He followed up by punching his chest. Edge coasted backwards and hit the barrier. Extending his hands out, Luigi unleashed more thunder at his body, temporarily immobilizing the beast as he bounced off the wall and landed on his torso. Luigi took advantage to this and summoned another bolt to shatter more of the glass. On the inside, the glow of the Chaos Emeralds dimmed down.

"Huh?" The Shadow Spirit finally realized what Luigi had done. "You conniving buffoon! You're not supposed to do that!"

"Oh, I'm sorry. I just did. All I had to do was attack the weak point. And that's your scepter."

"Please. I'm holding onto the Chaos Emeralds with the additional energy of the Dark Shards. It's the most powerful weapon in existence. Why would it be a weak point?"

"Someone told me to do that whenever you're down."

"And who would tell you such a thing?"

Luigi turned serious, drifting away from the battle. "Your older brother."

Edge's eyes bulged. He took some time to register the three words in his head. "My... My WHAT?!"

"The other surviving member from the Tribe of Darkness. The one who tried to destroy the worlds years ago when he initially lost his lover. The one who spared your life despite your poor relationship with him." Edge narrowed his eyes. "That's right. Count Blumiere trained me."

"How the hell is he alive?! Where did you find him?!"

"After I faced the fake Tough Possessor at the Treacherous Mansion, you separated me from Colombo and the people I rescued from the paintings. You then stole the duplicated Chaos Heart from my own heart. As I was unconscious, I was taken to the catacombs by Blumiere's helpers where I met him and Timpani for the first time in so many years. That was when I found out all about your plan and the fact that you're Blumiere's younger sibling. And he came out of hiding when he suspected you of committing such a heinous, yet similar act."

"That overemotional runt should've been dead by now. He should be gone instead of Dimentio."

"Well, sometimes love conquers over greed and power."

"Oh, don't give me that talk about love or how powerful it seems. That's a bunch of bullshit."

Luigi glared back at him. "Bullshit or not, Blumiere did what was right back then. Since he reunited with Timpani, he was back to the harmless person he was before all this happened. And I know that he did make mistakes and that he confessed about them. One of which was trying to destroy the worlds, obviously. But another blunder he mentioned was being a terrible brother to you."

He didn't expect to hear that from Luigi. Then again, Edge had his doubts. "I don't believe you."

"Then maybe I can convince my way. Let's pause our fight and give me a minute to talk."

"How do I know you're not going to pull something cheeky on me?"

"I told you too many times already. You always find a way to hurt me unexpectedly. I only did that once to you, not too long ago. But I'm not going to do that again. Besides, I promised Blumiere that I would tell you this before either one of you might lose their games."

Myster Edge was more than furious to the point that he wanted to disregard Luigi's request and just end him: right here, right now. But, when he stood up, he gave his enemy an ominous glower.

"Fine. This will be the only time where I won't attack you. You got sixty seconds though."

Luigi nodded and took a deep breath. "Blumiere told me about his past with you. He claimed you were the favorite son of the two. You had certain similarities with your father where you only thought about being powerful whereas Blumiere was smitten over a woman he grew to love. And just like your father, you shunned him from your world. You thought that because he was with someone outside of your species, their relationship is completely unacceptable. All that time, you two didn't care about each other. That is until after your father banished Timpani from your brother's life."

Myster Edge clearly remembered the incident. He also reminisced how much Blumiere sounded desperate to find her after his father exiled the woman away from their natives.

"When the Count couldn't take it, he vowed vengeance against him and the entire world as he blamed them for the theoretical loss of Timpani. Blumiere was supposed to be the only member of the tribe, except you are here. And from his words, you _begged_ him to stay alive."

The shadow tensely clutched his scepter as if he was ready to fire at Luigi again. Nevertheless, the Italian continued.

"Blumiere said that despite your differences and your detached feelings towards one another, you were still connected through brotherhood. However, you seem to officially break it off and parted ways from him. Nonetheless, you kept in touch with Dimentio until Mario and the others defeated him...

"That was how your backstory even began. That's why it all made sense when you wanted to revive him in the first place. And that's why you have a strong hatred towards me and my brother. Except I'm the bigger target because the Dark Prognosticus claimed that I was the required vessel for the Chaos Heart and for the prophecy to come true...

"But going back to you and Blumiere, he spoke with me the night before I entered the Oblivion. He wanted me to deliver a message to you. What he wanted me to tell you is that he apologizes for not being a supportive brother. He was only selfish out of finding Timpani for countless, heartbreaking years that he dismissed any sort of means involving you. He didn't treat you like family. And he had a small feeling of regret for what he had done that caused him to sacrifice his life for the worlds. Thankfully for him and Timpani, they didn't cease to exist. And they've lived peacefully together until all this went down...

"Nevertheless, after being separated from you, he just wants to let you know that he's very sorry."

Myster Edge was motionless for a while after Luigi finished his speech. His grip on the scepter remained tight, and his cold glare was still pointed at the man.

"Are you done yet?"

Luigi nodded slowly. "Yes, I am."

"Good."

Edge whipped out another sphere of lightning from his scepter. Luigi barely reacted in time when he zapped out his thunder to negate the unanticipated attack.

"What was that for?!"

"I don't need to answer that question."

"Touché. But answer me this. Don't you care about Blumiere at all? Have you ever missed him?"

He sent more lightning his way, but Luigi counteracted. "I don't give a damn about that top-hatted imbecile. For all I care, he should've been deceased, unlike Dimentio!"

Luigi dodged more of his projectiles. "Still, Blumiere actually had the tiniest amount of sympathy for you, even if it's very little! He actually felt remorseful for causing your brotherhood to be so distant."

"I don't view him as a brother anymore."

"But can't you see that he wanted to make amends with you?"

"Then he should've apologized in person."

"Okay, maybe you have a point. He's still sorry no matter what though."

Edge blinked once, yet he sent another lightning orb at Luigi who deflected it with thunder.

 _"Figlio di puttana,"_ he cursed. **_(2)_** "I saw that coming!"

"I highly doubt it, but that's no matter. Can you see _this_ coming?!"

The purple shadow waved his staff. Luigi expected more lightning, but this time, a set of Dark Shards rose from the surface. They grew tall that not even his super jump was high enough to overcome it. Additionally, Edge blocked off the top with a roof made up of more shards.

"NO! No no no!" Luigi banged on the smooth edges, but they were indestructible. He tried to summon his thunder to destroy the prison, but the bolt rebounded back at him. "OW!" he hissed.

"HAHAHAHA! Of course you didn't see it! And now I have you right where I wanted. As I was about to say, before your last unexpected move, I think it's time to bring back an old friend of ours."

Edge raised his left hand to reveal the Chaos Heart duplicate. Luigi was watching with wide eyes through the cracks between the crystals.

"Bring this entity back to life.

Summon the shadow within this light.

Take this soul, be revived, you shall,

To stand by my side, this I vow!" **_(3)_**

The light of the Chaos Emeralds shined brightly inside the cracked glass orb, but the energy was sufficient enough to cause the Chaos Heart to glow threateningly in white. Luigi shook his head, both anxious yet furious.

 _"This can't be happening... Not at this time..."_ He was worried that the end of the worlds was approaching extremely soon since time was flowing quickly in the dark dimension.

To add more to his discontent, the Chaos Heart was about to burst. The light covered the entire region of Star Hill that he had to shield his eyes. When the light was reduced, Luigi stared back at Edge, only to find another entity next to him.

With a color scheme of purple, yellow, and black all over his costume, a mask that was split in half that showed two deceiving eyes in different colors of black and yellow, and a sinister smile creeping on his face, after so many years, Dimentio was back from the dead.

"Ah ha ha ha. And so I have returned." He rotated around to see the imprisoned plumber. "And you... it's been ages since I last saw your scared, little face. It's a pleasure to reunite with you, _Mr. L_."

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _I've listened to a lot of Imagine Dragons while writing up this chapter mainly because their last three radio hits somewhat relate to Luigi's situation in his fray against Myster Edge: 'Believer', 'Whatever It Takes', and most fittingly, 'Thunder'._

 _However, this isn't over yet. Dimentio has returned after his demise from Super Paper Mario. And at the moment, there's not a lot of time left before everything will be gone. How will the final three chapters transpire? Can Luigi overcome both Myster Edge and the devious jester? Only one way to find out..._

 _Please review your thoughts down below, tell me if I need to edit or fix anything, follow/favorite for the upcoming conclusion, and I'll see you guys in Ch. 57 of Hidden Bravery where Luigi must bite the bullet to prevent the fall of the entire universe. This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I know that Wario really likes garlic, but Waluigi's eggplant is only based off the Whiskered Eggplant that he uses for his special Star Skill, the Liar Ball, in Mario Superstar Baseball._

 ** _(2):_** _The corresponding phrase translates to 'Son of a bitch.'_

 ** _(3):_** _Dimentio's revival scene was not exactly analogous to Luigi's nightmare in Ch. 30. But the chant remained the same as Edge successfully (and unfortunately) brought back the master of dimensions._


	58. Ch 57: Master of Betrayal

_A/N: This opening note is going to be long, so please prepare yourselves. (I'm sorry, too.)_

 _I realized that the idea where time goes faster in the Oblivion compared to the real world just made everything too complicated. So, what I did was re-edit the last three chapters (starting in Ch. 54 when the heroes fought Alpha) and allowed hours of time to fly by when Luigi and the others were unconscious after their battle. By the time they wake up in Ch. 55, two hours remain because Edge uses his magic to immobilize them (for the sake of plot convenience, or rather inconvenience). And starting in this chapter, Luigi will have only thirty minutes left before the Oblivion potentially destroys the universe._

 _To clarify, just so things won't sound perplexing, time goes by at the same rate: in the Mushroom Kingdom, in Mobius, in the Oblivion, and everywhere else. I apologize to everyone for the change and if I confused anyone from the start. I hope this will clear things up for the remainder of HB._

 _And damn... I am speechless. SpiderDom321, Infinite's Ruby, Steel Fairy, Tiger of Darkness, Guest, Q, and everyone else who reviewed and/or read from the moment this story got published, you have helped me reached two more accomplishments: **20,000+ hits** and **200+ reviews** (going on to 250)! You guys are awesome, and I can't thank you all enough!_

 _Anyways, the penultimate chapter of the main story is here, and following that will be the finale and the epilogue to wrap this entire fanfiction up. I can't believe I've made it this far, but it's all thanks to you guys for making this story as big as it is right now._

 _Without further ado, it's time to get back to Hidden Bravery. And we'll be going through an unexpected twist of fate. That is, if you consider this unexpected..._

* * *

 _Disclaimer: Mario is copyrighted by Nintendo, and Sonic is owned by Sega. I don't own any rights to the characters, games, or series._

* * *

 **Chapter 57:** Master of Betrayal

 _Location: E. Gadd's Lab_

The short, old man wiped his lab coat with a paper towel, patting the wet spot above his pocket after he accidentally spilled some tea on himself. He was brewing another pot. Only this time, he crushed a 1-Up Mushroom and transferred the bits into the kettle. After pouring some into a cup, he drifted to the guest room where the others lingered.

Toadsworth, Toadette, and Toad were sitting on the couch. Peach remained from her spot next to the sleeping Mario. Zephyr floated on the other side of the bed. Colombo was huddled near the plumber's arm. Sonic and Tails leaned against one of the walls. And Daisy hadn't returned. E. Gadd frowned to see everyone's faces. They were all despondent and quiet.

"What time is it, Professor?" Tails asked when he saw him.

E. Gadd glanced at his watch. With an uncomfortable sigh, he responded, "8:30. Only a half hour remains until the aforementioned end." He walked over to the bed. "Princess, can you please lift his head up gently?"

"Of course," she obliged.

Carefully minding the red-clad hero, she positioned his head so that it was slightly up against the headrest. She lowered his jaw so that E. Gadd could transfer the liquid into his mouth. The warm tea made it down into his stomach. Everyone waited for him to wake up.

"Mario. Mario, can you hear me?"

Then, after several seconds, he began to move his fingers. A slight groan escaped his lips. Slowly but surely, Mario barely opened his eyelids to see a blurry light and some other images that he had trouble discerning. Until his vision became clear, he took a few seconds to take in his location. But it hasn't quite reached his brain yet.

"Oh..." he groaned. "What happened? Where am I?"

"You're back home, Mario," Sonic walked up to him as Tails followed by his side. "Well, not exactly your home. But technically, the Mushroom Kingdom."

"Sonic? Tails? Why are you here? Why is-" He finally realized he was in E. Gadd's guest room. Besides the Mobians, he saw Colombo right near his arm, E. Gadd and Princess Peach to his left, and then there's Zephyr and the Toads to his right. "What the? What am I doing here? The last thing I remember was being in the Treacherous Mansion."

"Yeah, you were," replied Sonic. "Except beforehand, after we had our fracas, I got taken by the ghosts with Tails, and we got stuck in the underground dungeon. The professor also got trapped by Clawdio and Slimmer, who impersonated us."

Mario enlarged his eyes. "Oh my god. I remember that. The fake Sonic and Tails knocked me out, and I was taken to the Underground Lab. And then..." He shuddered when he remembered the horrible feeling of the electrical currents going into his body. "Myster Edge somehow managed Tough to possess me. That was the last thing I truly remembered."

"Anyways, Mario, we have some bad blood to resolve. I'm sorry for what happened earlier. I shouldn't have fought with you, or we wouldn't have been separated like that."

"It wasn't all your fault. I caused some tension, too. I'm sorry for that, and I accept your apology."

"The same goes for me."

"But, wait a minute. Why are we suddenly in E. Gadd's lab? Are Edge and the Oblivion gone? And... where's Luigi?"

Everyone was anxious at his question that none of them had the guts to answer. Zephyr and the Toads only stared at each other. Sonic and Tails did the same to each other. Peach's face was filled with angst, clutching the brooch on her dress. E. Gadd fiddled with his glasses as he looked down at the mattress. Colombo wagged his tail in slow motion with an uncomfortable whine.

The plumber's eyes narrowed. "I knew it. Something's happened to Luigi. He's not... gone, is he?"

"A-Actually, Mario," Tails hesitated, "Colombo, Sonic, and I truly know what occurred. And then we told E. Gadd, Peach, and the rest who came here."

"What exactly happened?" his voice was low.

Tails gulped, prompting Sonic to take over. "We fought all three of Edge's bots, the other two plus Alpha. But after we defeated him, he had a bomb rigged to his body. Alpha caused an explosion and sent us back to the copy of Toad Town."

"Copy of Toad Town?"

"The Oblivion is basically a replica of your entire dimension, except everything's purple and full of Dark Shards," Tails elucidated.

"Anyway, Edge put a slumber spell on us. At that moment, there were only about two hours left before all the worlds would fall. And eventually..." Sonic paused and blinked for a second. "We ended up..."

"What?"

"We encountered you in the Oblivion. You were roboticized and possessed."

Mario was astonished to the point where he didn't have any words to say.

"Luigi, Colombo, Tails, and I were forced to defeat you. We came out victorious, and that's why you became unconscious after that."

"But, why are you three here with me? Why is Luigi not with you guys?"

Tails bit his lip. "Luigi had a device from E. Gadd that would safely bring us back to the Mushroom Kingdom after we save you and defeat Edge. But since he's still on the loose and you were out cold, Luigi sent all four of us here. Which means that he's still in the Oblivion."

Mario registered the anecdote in his mind and became completely guilty, worried, and angry at the same time. "Are you kidding me?" his voice remained soft.

Sonic and Tails shook their heads. The others were still silent.

"You're serious? This isn't a funny joke or anything?"

"We wish this wasn't a thing," Sonic sweated.

"You're telling me that Luigi is sacrificing his life for the entire universe?"

"We're afraid so," Tails mumbled.

Mario laid back on the headboard in disbelief, staring up at the ceiling. _"Mamma Mia... Why did you do that, Luigi? Am I never going to see you again, especially after we fought?"_

Suddenly, the ground and the entire bunker shook in place.

"G-Good heavens! What was that?!" Toadsworth was alarmed.

"It felt like an earthquake!" Toad panicked.

"Or... is it because the hole in the sky is growing even larger?" Toadette wondered.

"If the Oblivion is just like the Void, all the worlds would rumble until the black hole completely obliterates everything," Peach assumed. "It's happened to Sammer's Kingdom before."

"Guys!" Daisy ran into the room. "The Oblivion has completely filled up the entire sky!"

"What?!" everyone shrieked. Zephyr and Colombo made scared ghost sounds.

"Mario!" the tomboy looked over at the bed. "You're awake!"

"I am, but this isn't good at all! We have to do something! Luigi's still inside, and there's practically no way for him to get out!"

"But what can we do, Mario?" asked Peach.

He opened his mouth but quickly closed it. He didn't have an answer. "I don't know."

"The only thing we can do is wait. If Luigi's lucky, he could survive and end it all before it's actually too late," E. Gadd discussed. "Other than that, we're out of options. We don't have any other place to stay safe from the cataclysm. Either Luigi ends it, or it ends us."

"This is not good at all," fretted Daisy.

"No, it isn't," Mario agreed. _"Oh, Luigi. Please get out of there safely and successfully."_

* * *

 _Location: Angel Island_

In every other location, the Oblivion has wiped out the sky. Purple and black mixed together with tons of clouds and glitches. All the areas started to reverberate, going on the verge of collapsing.

"Whoa! That's a heavy rumble!" Big felt surprised.

"Ribbit!" Froggy agreed to that.

"What does this rumbling mean?" questioned Storm.

"It means we're going to die! The aliens are coming for us!" Sticks yelled in fear.

"Oh, pipe it, you delusional badger!" Jet screeched. "Aliens don't exist!"

"Regardless, this feels like a thunderstorm or a hurricane," Wave covered her face with her hand to block the strong winds.

"I'd say this is worse than either one of those," Knuckles struggled against the gusts. "If Edge doesn't fall out soon, we're as good as Tikal and Chaos."

"As in we'll be dead?" Jet needed clarification.

"Of course it means we'll be dead! Not unless some miracle happens to Luigi!" the echidna shouted.

* * *

 _Location: Station Square_

"Chao! Chao!"

"I know, Cheese! It's very dangerous and scary out there now. We'll be safe inside this hotel though," said Cream.

"We won't be safe for too long though," Shadow crossed his arms.

"Must you look at the negative side of things?" Silver rolled his eyes.

"Do you _not_ see what the hell's going on out there?! This is worse than the shadow directing his robots to attack the city!"

"Calm down, Shadow," Espio hushed him. "This is one of the few places we can hide out until this storm blows over."

"That is if Luigi can stop the bad guy," reminded Vector.

"I just wonder how he, Sonic, and Tails are doing," Amy clasped her hands together.

"Don't forget his ghost dog!" added Charmy.

"Either way, they're our only hope to survive." Little did Silver and the rest of the party know was that the fate of the universe was in the hands of the green-clad ghost hunter alone.

* * *

 _Location: Emerald Hill Zone_

"Uh-oh. This doesn't look good," Ray peered at what was above him and his friends.

"Whoa... That looks absolutely insane. I'm starting to get a seizure by looking at it," Mighty commented.

"I hope Mean Green, Big Blue, and the others are doing fine," Rouge conjectured.

"For some reason, I have a bad feeling they're already close to defeating Edge. But I don't know if they'll make it in time," Blaze mumbled. Just like Silver, she and the others were unaware of the events that went on inside the dark dimension.

"We better find somewhere safe to hide! If we do survive, we might as well wait until this storm is over!"

"Good idea, Ray! Come on, Rouge, Blaze! Let's get going!"

The girls nodded, and the quartet quickly ran past the grassy hills.

* * *

 _Location: Chemical Plant Zone_

"Um, boss? What do you think we should do now?" Cubot looked up at the glitching sky.

"How am I supposed to know? We can't do anything!" shouted Eggman.

"It's a relief that Metal Sonic took care of the possessed robots. But the shadow villain is the main problem now," stated Orbot.

"That pesky ghost buster better defeat him. He's the only guy who can avenge me!"

"Don't forget about Sonic, Tails, and the others," Cubot mentioned.

"Oh, forget about those buffoons."

Meanwhile, Metal Sonic rolled his eyes without anyone noticing. If he could talk, he would respond with a simple phrase: _"We're going to die."_

* * *

 _Location: Yoshi's Island_

On the tropical isle, dozens of Yoshis started to run for shelter. Several of them went to the temple and hid inside. Others went into their huts or deep underground.

"Yoshi! Do you know what's going?" queried Birdo.

"I think it's what our friends have been saying before. The end is almost near."

"So, what do we do in this case?" the Yoshi Village Leader came up to the duo.

"I wish I knew. Even without the robot invasion, this looks really bad."

"Do you think this can be stopped?" the pink dinosaur asked.

"Only if Luigi can stop Myster Edge. But I don't know how he's doing at this point." Yoshi was very concerned for his green friend.

* * *

 _Location: Kongo Jungle_

"Ookie! Uh, guys?" Diddy caught the Kongs' attention. He pointed up at the disaster that was the storm.

"Holy bananas!" Dixie had her hands on her cheeks. "That looks terrifying!"

"Is this what you fellers call the end of the world?" Cranky scratched his head with the top of his cane.

"It could if Luigi and his friends aren't able to knock out that demon shadow!" Donkey Kong grunted.

"I don't know about you, mates, but this could turn out either great or horrendous," Funky Kong crossed his arms.

"I'm pretty sure we're all thinking that."

* * *

 _Location: Bowser's Castle_

After getting rid of the Shadelings, everyone went back inside the castle. However, Bowser Jr. came running into the throne room to find his father. The Koopa King was sitting in his large chair, contemplating to himself with closed eyes and a fist against his right cheek.

"Papa! We've got trouble again!"

"Urgh, what is it now, Jr.?"

"The black hole has gotten bigger! It's covered up the whole sky!"

Bowser blinked before he got off his throne and looked through one of the windows. His son wasn't lying. Instead of the perpetual ambiance where Dark Land consisted of dark gray clouds with occasional lightning, it was replaced with a vastness of purple and black clouds with the glitches, just like how the Void appeared in Flipside and the other dimensions Bowser ventured through with the Mario Bros. and Princess Peach.

He shook his head. "Of course. Green Hat is too incompetent for that stupid shadow figure. He'll never hear the end of it."

"The end of what?" Jr. tilted his head.

"Never mind." Of course, Bowser had little faith in the green plumber, even in a tough situation like this. However, he did put the littlest amount of trust in him. It was a waiting game to see if Luigi could fulfill the favor.

* * *

 _Location: Toad Town_

"Wah? Hey, what's with the earthquake?" Waluigi almost lost his balance.

"Eh? I think it's coming from outside," presumed Wario.

The yellow and purple-clothed men ran outside Peach's Castle. The first thing they actually saw was the plethora of colored Toads screaming in terror like any other regular day when Bowser invades the Mushroom Kingdom and abducts the princess. However, the reason why they're running like chickens with their heads cut off was found above them.

"Whoa! That's one heck of a storm!" exclaimed Wario.

"You're right, Wario! Does that mean Luigi's too late?"

"He better not be! I'm supposed to get my new go-kart that's arriving tomorrow! I should be fast enough to win the next Mario Kart tournament!"

"Oh, please. You can't even drive your Standard Bike properly without breaking it with your fat ass."

"How many times are you gonna keep making fun of my weight? Besides this fat, at least I have muscle unlike your skinny twigs you call arms."

"Well I'll have you know that-"

"Hey!" the two were interrupted by a Blue Toad. "Can you guys stop arguing and go back to the castle for safety? We shouldn't be caught up in the middle of this mess!"

A tree nearly fell on top of him, and the Toad ran away. Then, a loud boom was heard from above. It was at that time Wario and Waluigi decided to stop bickering.

"Every man for himself! Take cover!" Waluigi flapped his arms as he ran towards the castle doors.

"Wait for me!" Wario yelled.

* * *

 _Location: The Oblivion_

This wasn't what Luigi wanted at all. He was trapped inside a prison of Dark Shards, and Myster Edge used the Chaos Heart duplicate to resuscitate Dimentio. He may have faced him before, but Luigi was frightened to see how creepy his face looked. It was like the jester was hungry for revenge. To make matters worse, the purple dimensional world started to shake violently. He had a good feeling that there was not much time left.

"Dimentio," Edge called out to him.

He turned around in midair and cackled. "Ah ha ha. Well, if it isn't my trustworthy partner. Myster Edge. Pray tell, how long has it been since I left my shadow behind?"

"For too many years, Dimentio. You've been gone for so long. Half of your spirit was still stuck inside the original Chaos Heart, which was banished by _him_ and his _so-called lover_ ," Edge spat. Luigi lowered his eyebrows at his hateful emphasis. "The other part was truly successful, however, as your copy of the Chaos Heart had fully grown inside this fool's body," he pointed at the caged plumber, "all thanks to my powers, of course."

"Mm-hmm. I see. After all, I did explain to you on how you were going to accomplish my scheme."

"And now, you're finally here. So, with that, we can finally rule a brand-new universe together, and you can rebuild your Super Dimentio form. You have all the pieces together: the Chaos Heart, the man in green, and your revived soul."

"I must thank you for your assistance."

"It was impatiently repugnant to stand by for this long, but now I know it was worth the wait." Edge shifted over to Luigi who remained both cross and terrified. "And as for you, our little, mustached scaredy-cat, I hope you're ready to be enslaved once again."

"No... NO! You're not going to get away with this!"

"Don't act like you're all tough and smart to get out of this situation. You already know your fate. And you're going to accept it."

"I will not let Dimentio take over my mind again!"

"Face it, pest. Your life and reputation will be over, not like you were anything significant besides being the host of-"

 ** _*BOOM_** ** _*_**

To Luigi's surprise, Edge's face was pressed against the outside of the Dark Shard prison, causing him to flinch backwards. Then, the shards were destroyed, allowing Luigi to be free. And before he knew it, Luigi reacted when a flying magical sphere came right at him. Pulling the hose off the Poltergust 6000, he flipped the switch on and pressed the green button to activate a Shriek Shield. It was his second to last barrier, which meant he was down to his final one. But surprisingly, the sphere was deflected. It didn't pierce through like all of Edge's lightning attacks.

Catching his breath, Luigi peered over at Dimentio who floated in the air, retaining his baleful stare. Not only that, but the Chaos Heart was hovering above his head. Edge got up on one knee and turned around, glaring at his partner with bewilderment.

"And so I attacked, like a Bullet Bill whistling at high speed towards an inattentive pedestrian!"

"Dimentio! What was that for?"

"I wanted to get rid of the prison. But you were in my way, like a Fat Guy blocking the trail, bribing someone for a delectable dessert," he replied innocently. **_(1)_**

"You're letting the guy out? For what purpose?!"

"I did say that all I wanted was to be resurrected if the heroes of the Light Prognosticus somehow overcame my super stature."

"And you're back, thanks to me."

"You're right. I relied on you to bring me back. But now I'm done with you."

"What? URGH!"

"Huh?!" Luigi gasped at the sight. He witnessed Myster Edge flying into the transparent wall, much harder than the times when he sent him soaring from his Thunderhand. Then, Dimentio raised his hands high and trapped the shadow inside one of his infamous dimensional boxes.

"Hey! What the heck are you doing?!"

"Don't you think it's amusing that it's a role reversal? You're now in the position where the despicable, clumsy man was in earlier."

"This is not a funny joke, Dim-wit! If I wanted to laugh, your face is inspiration enough!" **_(2)_**

 _"Why does that sound so familiar to me?"_ Luigi pondered.

"Don't worry, Edgy, it's not like I hate you or anything. I'm just saying you're gullible like all the others."

"What?"

"O'Chunks. Mimi. Nastasia. The heroic plumber in red. This cowardly plumber in green. The ravishing, pink princess. The tetchy arm flailer. Even your precious older brother. They all fell for my trap card, like a certain red echidna who believed in everything that a fat doctor told him."

"Don't call Bleck my brother. He's no longer part of my family. And stop with the annoying similes!"

"Edge, don't deny it. You secretly care about him. I know so from your own words."

"Is that what you always like doing, eavesdropping when you're out of sight and then you randomly appear like some sort of ghost waiting to spook some fool?"

 _"I've had plenty of experiences regarding that,"_ Luigi groaned while looking up at nothing.

"You do have some feelings for the Count. You're just too shy to admit them."

"I have nothing to say."

"Then that further proves my point."

"On what?! That you're out of your mind?!"

"You miss the Count, don't you?"

"Shut up! And let me out of your stupid box!"

The jester simply snickered while shaking his head. "I was about to say, that's quite an innuendo. But about your request, I don't think that's going to happen. To recap, I no longer need you of your services. You've done your job to make sure I'll come back as the most powerful being in the world."

"So you _used_ me?! All this time, I did this shit to revive you, only for you to stab me in the back?!"

"Wow. It took you that long to figure it out. You're not as smart as I thought."

"You dirty traitor!"

"That's why I'm not only a master of dimensions, I'm also a master of betrayal." Dimentio followed by snapping his fingers.

"AAHHH!" Edge screamed inside the barrier. Fire and explosions burst inside, charring his entire body.

Luigi felt a twinge in the pit of his stomach. He could sense the horrible feeling like the times he was shocked by his enemy. And to see him grieve through the same fate, only with fire coming from his 'friend', he was aghast at what he was in front of him. What used to be a helpless situation between two strong foes turned out into an act of disloyalty where the one who harmed him was getting a taste of his own medicine.

Throughout the duration, Dimentio ominously chuckled to himself. Since he was solely focused on blazing the Shadow Spirit, the green man zapped away with his thunder. The magician was stunned from the bolts. Luigi followed up by running at Dimentio, crouching his legs to perform a super jump, and delivering a strong uppercut to his chin. The jester shook his head and stared down at Luigi who landed flawlessly on a hand and knee. Since Dimentio's magic was stopped, Edge saw them the two of them glare at one another.

"Did you think you were clever with that tactic?"

"No, but you should stop all this nonsense. I probably should've seen this coming, knowing how you're notorious for manipulation and deception."

"You know me so well, Mr. L. I wonder why."

"Don't call me by that name," Luigi growled.

"Do you prefer being entitled a pushover with a shag above his lips?"

"It's as irksome as being labeled with the name 'Green 'Stache' by Bowser."

"By the way, how is the ferocious Koopa King? I must say, his arms better be fine. He's practically running around with two sets of propellers by his sides, waiting to come off at any moment."

Luigi ignored his question, clenching his hands with an electric sensation.

"What about the pink princess? She hasn't been too helpful at anything besides being snatched, is she?"

Despite her endless streak of abductions, Luigi had seen better days where Peach was a vital, dependent fighter.

"And what about your gallant brother? I must say, he was quite the fighter when he defeated the two of us. All he wanted was to save you and the worlds because that's the kind of guy he is."

"Where are you going with this?" grunted Edge. Luigi suspected it was just to waste more time.

"Hush. Besides, I wanted to ask you, _Luigi_. Don't you remember the good old days when you were brainwashed a second time and I merged you with the Chaos Heart? It was lot of fun, like a toddler gnawing and drooling on a wooden block. Am I right?"

"That was anything but good or fun!"

"Anyway, you do recall how I got you to serve my orders, correct?"

Luigi gulped as he was scared to answer.

"I'll give you a hint. It's green and dead inside, kind of like you in the next twenty minutes or so."

"What kind of description is that? That's morbid, even for me," said Myster Edge.

"Like you haven't censured me before," Luigi countered. "And I already know what you're talking about," he replied to Dimentio.

"We all know how the Dark Prognosticus is foretold. The Chaos Heart is formed to create the Void to destroy all worlds. And you, as the man in green, were chosen to be the host for the heart to fulfill this prophecy. That was when I planted the Floro Sprout into your brain, and we amalgamated together to emerge as Super Dimentio...

"But, since the Light Prognosticus had overpowered the Dark, I went the extra mile to send Edge on a fetch quest for a second alternative in case the first plan failed. The influence of the Chaos Emeralds from a different world and the energy of the Dark Moon, or in this case, the Dark Shards, would be sufficient if the two powers combined with the duplicate I composed in your body. I awaited my long return to this day, the final day where the worlds will actually fall. And it's not just your dimension. It's not just that blue hedgehog's world. It's for _all_ the domains in existence!"

"I am _never_ going to forgive you for this, you demented fink!" Edge boomed from inside his dimensional prison.

Dimentio smirked. "I was ready to take action with you yet again," he directed at Luigi. "But this time..."

"What?" the man raised an eyebrow.

"I'll give you one last act on the stage."

"What does that supposed to mean?"

The jester answered Luigi's question when he snapped his fingers. The plumber instantly touched the top of his head, only to feel nothing but the soft fabric of his beloved green cap. He expected Dimentio to plant another Floro Sprout on him. However, he turned to Myster Edge when a bright light shined near him. When it faded away, above his cloaked noggin was a green stalk with two leaves.

Luigi slowly shifted his gaze back at the flying magician. "What did you just do?"

"Mr. L, I would like you to humbly meet Mr. E!"

Edge was stuck in a trance as his eyes were glued straight at basically nothing, as if he was hypnotized. "Master Dimentio, what is your bidding?"

"You enslaved him?!" Luigi realized.

"Just like you, Mr. L. And now, it's time for the curtain to rise as we begin the second greatest magic show the world will experience. However, you're going to be the first and last audience member to actually watch it."

"NO! STOP!"

Dimentio paid no attention to Luigi as he only cared about his dastardly plan. He snapped his fingers to omit the box that once trapped Myster Edge. "Mr. E, take your position right now. It's about time you reveal your brand-new role."

"Yes, sir," he responded with a monotonous voice. Dropping his scepter with the Chaos Emeralds inside, he walked slowly up to the jester before rising up into the air next to him.

Dimentio then raised his hands as the Chaos Heart continued to rotate above him. It stopped moving for a second as another light flashed throughout the Oblivion. A black hole formed from where the Chaos Heart was. Mr. E was sucked up inside before he disappeared. And soon, a familiar figure had returned. A gigantic puppet with Dimentio's body, a black cloak surrounding the body, purple hands, and a demented head of Myster Edge stood at the top of Star Hill.

 _"Oh no..."_ Luigi said in his thoughts.

"I present to you, Super Dimentio 2.0! Only this time, I used my 'friend' as the host of the Chaos Heart duplicate since he was generous enough to build all the strength necessary to remove it from your soul. And as for you, Luigi, it's time for you to face the music."

The evil jester entered inside the mouth of Edge's enormous head. Super Dimentio 2.0 glimmered for a quick second.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha ha! At long last, I feel powerful again! My own Chaos Heart copy was a success! This time, I will destroy everything with the help of the Oblivion! Then, I will create a perfect new universe, all for me and me only! And not even that stupid red plumber will meddle with me! But as for you, my little friend in green, this is your last stand! You will meet your eventual demise for good! You are completely hopeless as you won't have a chance to stop me!"

Luigi stood in shock and silence. He soon grasped the idea that he wasn't at a crossroads. He only had one option in this unexpected situation.

He had to win. He had to save the worlds. And even if he had to save the one guy who tortured him for the past week and a half, it was for the greater good as long as Dimentio doesn't get away with this.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _The way I wrote the second half of this chapter was to accentuate how deceptive and psychopathic Dimentio can be, as well as how far he will go to complete his evil agenda on becoming the most powerful villain to ever exist. (Sorry, Eggman, Bowser, and Edge. But Dimentio's got you beat.)_

 _Nonetheless, the ultimate test will have to wait as Luigi will be facing a new menace in Super Dimentio 2.0, this time with Myster Edge being the victim of this monstrous creation. Will he fail in the final battle and send everything into oblivion? Or can he win the fight and survive the cataclysm?_

 _Ch. 58 will consist of the entirety of the last boss fight, as well as the outcome. The epilogue will finish things off following the aftermath. As Hidden Bravery approaches its conclusion, please review, follow/favorite, and stay tuned for the finale! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _In the first Paper Mario, Mario encountered a giant, voracious Fat Guy (a.k.a. Gourmet Guy) who was blocking his way in Shy Guy's Toy Box (Chapter 4 of the plot). He would allow Mario to continue if he gave him a Cake._

 ** _(2):_** _Back when Luigi was Mr. L, he remarked with this insult when Dimentio tried to banish him after his second failed attempt to thwart the heroes in Super Paper Mario._


	59. Ch 58: Rise of the Green Thunder

_A/N:_ _This is it, everybody. The final main chapter of my first story on Fanfiction. I want to thank everyone who has either reviewed, favorited, followed, or read the story up to this point. It's been over a year and a half since I published this, and it's quite shocking to think that I'm about to complete this soon. Following the finale will be an epilogue to wrap things up, along with some special thanks to some people out there. And then, this fanfic will be officially completed and will no longer be updated (unless I need to fix grammar/spelling mistakes that I've missed)._

 _Also, just to let you guys know, sometimes I'll be excluding the '2.0' part of Super Dimentio throughout most of the fight because I think it's superfluous, if that makes sense. Either way, I hope I made this interesting enough for you guys to be satisfied with the end result. So without any more interruptions, I present to you the conclusion of_ _Hidden Bravery_ _!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer:_ _This story and my original characters are the only things I take credit for. Mario and Sonic are owned by Nintendo and Sega, respectively._

* * *

 **Chapter 58:** Rise of the Green Thunder

 _Location: Memory Hill_

"Blumiere?"

The Count was resting against the trunk of the apple tree on top of the large hill. When he heard his significant other, he opened his blue eye.

"Yes, Timpani?"

"Duplimore and Duplicit have warned us that there are only ten minutes remaining. This could be our last standing moments with each other, for real this time."

Blumiere exhaled through his nose, feeling indifferent. "Hmm... I can definitely say that I'm not entirely confident now as I used to be. But I still think that he's got a fighting chance."

"You don't think something bad happened to Luigi, do you?"

He shook his head. "I can't tell you for sure. I don't know what's going on up there. For all I know, Edge could be torturing him again to the point where he might eradicate him for good. Dimentio could be revived at this point, too. But who knows? We're not there with him."

Timpani kneeled down and crawled to his side, cuddling her head against his shoulder and squeezing his hand tightly. "If we somehow don't get out of this alive, I just want to let you know that I love you, Blumiere."

The top-hatted man mirrored her loving stare. "And I love you, too, Timpani. But promise me that you won't blame Luigi if he doesn't save the worlds."

"Not in a million years. He's done everything up to this point, and this is his most difficult mission to handle. And I'm sure he's got the help of his friends, right?"

"I hope so, my dear. I hope so."

His hope would have been crushed if he found out about Luigi's decision to send his friends back home. But instead, his mindset was only focused on whether the man in green would be triumphant or his brother will induce the end of all worlds. The latter would be true, if he was the one conducting it in the first place.

* * *

 _Location: The Oblivion_

Like a deer standing in the middle of the road with a pair of headlights coming right at them. Like a scientist in awe at the sight of food raining down from the cloudy sky. Like a saber-toothed squirrel stuck in a block of ice trying to reach his beloved acorn. _**(1)**_

If Dimentio was still active, he'd be flinging similes left and right to describe the predicament Luigi was in. He stood there, frozen. Except he was horrified at what occurred.

"Is something wrong, Mr. L? You can tell me all about it, when I see you in your new home, the Underwhere!" the jester's voice chortled as the mouth moved to synchronize with his diction.

Luigi gulped as he stood his ground. He noticed that the invisible wall was now gone, meaning that he wasn't stuck in such a small area at the top of Star Hill. Nevertheless, what was in front of him was gargantuan, dangerous, terrifying, you name it. Dimentio took control of the Chaos Heart duplicate and his ex-cohort, Myster Edge, who was lied to about ruling the universe alongside the deceiving jester. It was only an illusory statement so that he could be revived and lead the Shadow Spirit astray. And now, Super Dimentio 2.0 towered over the green ghost catcher.

 _"I have to do this. I have to do this. I **need** to do this,"_ he repeated to himself. He opened his mouth to take in a deep breath, then he exhaled through his nostrils. Luigi narrowed his blue eyes, crouched into a fighting position, and compressed his hands that charged up with thunder.

He extended a finger right at Super Dimentio's face. The thunderbolt hit the left eye of the gigantic head, but it didn't seem to be effective. The purple hands tightened into fists to try and slam the plumber down. However, Luigi used his super jump to leap backward to avoid both the hands and the shockwaves that followed after. He hopped on one of them and jumped closer to the body. Luigi punched the face, but again his efforts were futile. Super Dimentio didn't take any damage. When he landed on the ground, he had to dodge the hands that undulated near him in a quick motion. Super Dimentio's right hand nearly caught the plumber in his grasp. Luigi was able to escape as he ran back to the other side of the summit.

"Come on, Luigi. Don't be afraid to attack. Trust me, I don't bite," Dimentio derided from inside his creation.

"I don't need your condescension!" grunted Luigi.

He fired another shot of thunder at the monster. When that hardly did anything, he pushed forward to get in closer range again. Luigi triple jumped up to Myster Edge's head and performed a ground pound over the cloak's hood. He activated his Thunderhand, this time aiming at Super Dimentio's back and lower half. But his body glimmered in a golden, translucent coat with some rainbow effects.

"Ah ha ha ha. I didn't feel a single thing from all that. Was that really your best effort? That's just pathetic, like a child getting his amateur drawing rejected by his parents," mocked Dimentio.

 _"The Chaos Heart is keeping him safe inside?! He's unstoppable then! I have to get rid of that invincibility!"_ Luigi panicked. Another rumble shook the entire area. _"I'm running out of time, too!"_

Super Dimentio 2.0 used his magic to summon the Dark Shards on Star Hill to rise up from the ground. They broke into smaller chunks and were hurled at the plumber. Luigi shifted to the side, ducked down, jumped over, and hurried away from the sharp fragments. He continued to use his Thunderhand against the psychotic beast. Still, Super Dimentio was unaffected by his attempts.

"Another failed attempt. Come on, Mr. L. You can do better than that."

"Be quiet!" Luigi gritted his teeth in anger.

Then, the demonic eyes discharged two lightning orbs. "Surprise!" Blazing at high speed, they were able to shock and immobilize Luigi before he could evade them.

"YAAAAAH!" he shrieked. He fell forward on his hands, panting through his clenched teeth from the agonizing pain. Luigi got up quickly when the hands tried to capture him. He dashed around the perimeter of the apex, desperate to discover a weak point.

However, one of the fists pounded the surface in front of him. His traction made him slide into the knuckle. He bounced back with a bruised nose. Luigi didn't have time to recover as Super Dimentio's fingers pinched the right suspender of his overalls. The hand flicked Luigi across the peak. The plumber collapsed roughly on his chest. Super Dimentio floated in the air before landing near the fallen hero.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha! You foolish, big-nosed plumber! Just like the original Chaos Heart, my copy can grant me the power of invincibility! You can't possibly hurt me with your silly, little attacks! Which means your thunder powers are of no use against my ultimate form! And this time, the Pure Hearts are nowhere to be found or utilized to weaken me! Not even your older brother in red can help you, too! You and everyone else will experience the eventual doom as the Oblivion, or as I like to call it 'The Reawakening of the Void', to destroy everything in existence for good!"

Luigi lifted and shook his head as he stared back at the fifty-foot demon. _"Is this what happened to Mario when he faced him in Castle Bleck?"_ the man pondered.

Suddenly, as he was about to stand, the entire world shook once again, causing Luigi to be a bit off-balanced. The end of all worlds was getting closer.

"It's all coming together! With everything about to be wiped out, I shall have my revenge after leaving this pointless world for many years!"

 _"If I can't hurt him, what am I going to do?! There has to be a way to beat him!"_

Luigi looked at something behind Super Dimentio. It was Myster Edge's scepter, glowing with the seven Chaos Emeralds inside the cracked glass orb. Then, he had an idea.

 _"Could it be possible to weaken him with the powers of both the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards? They are associated with everything here: Dimentio, the Chaos Heart copy, the Super Dimentio figure... And maybe, since I'm somewhat linked to their powers as well, can I control the staff?"_

"I'm as clueless as a lost kid in the middle of a crowded mall. I have no idea what you're thinking about right now, but I presume it entails to your worthless attempts to take me down."

 _"I don't know how I else I can deal damage to him if my Thunderhand isn't sufficient. It has to be worth a shot. But if it doesn't, then I'm really doomed."_

Luigi went straight for the distraction, sending out more volts of thunder at Super Dimentio. Obviously, he knew it wasn't going to inflict him, but he needed a way to keep the enemy busy as he ran over to Edge's scepter.

"Haven't you learned by now, Mr. L?" Dimentio taunted as he slammed a fist near Luigi before he hopped over it. "Your stupid, little thunderbolts are as incompetent as a wooden hammer trying to kill a Bald Cleft."

He shot out more lightning orbs from his eyes, but the green-clad Italian barely evaded them.

"Almost there," whispered Luigi.

"Besides, is that all you're going to do? Let out a weak thunderstorm and run away like a headless chicken?"

Avoiding another electric orb, Luigi reached the other side and scooped up the large staff in his hands. He pointed the orb directly at Super Dimentio.

"What the? Are you kidding me?"

"No, I'm not," Luigi growled.

"Ah ha ha ha ha ha," Dimentio couldn't help but laugh at him. "Don't you think it sounds ridiculous for you to handle such a powerful tool? Sure, Mr. E may have left it unattended, but that doesn't mean that you can simply take control of it."

 _"Only one way to find out."_ Somehow, he managed to feel a presence from Edge's weapon. He thought his eyes were deceiving him, but the light of the Chaos Emeralds became a little bit brighter than before.

"Anyways, I've had enough of you already. Mr. E did his part, and he's now under my influence. Meanwhile, you have already finished your first performance on the stage. And this time, it's time for your final bow. Now let's get started, shall we? Ciao, Mr. L!"

Super Dimentio 2.0 was ready to fire more electricity at the hero as his eyes began to light up. Luigi readied himself with the staff. As soon as the giant figure ejected a big, lightning orb from his eyes, Luigi aimed at the sphere and surprisingly disintegrated it with a projectile of his own. But unlike Edge's attacks, this was a greenish-blue bolt of thunder.

"What?!" Dimentio bellowed. "But how?!"

Even Luigi didn't know. But, he targeted Super Dimentio's face and released a large flash. The thunder penetrated through his invulnerability coat which had vanished instantly.

"NO! H-HOW IS THAT EVEN POSSIBLE?"

Luigi lowered the staff to face him. "Maybe it was a lucky guess, or maybe it's because that I'm somewhat linked to Edge's powers. After all, he was the one who put a spell on me. He used the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards to mature the heart at a fast pace. On top of that, he shocked me internally to torture me. And I'm not finished. The combination of the Chaos Emeralds and the original Dark Moon pieces, when cleaned off, also made the Chaos Heart stronger every time their combined powers healed my injuries. In some way, it kind of makes sense. To a different extent, it may not. Nevertheless, I used Edge's scepter to make you completely defenseless. So by that logic..." _**(2)**_

Luigi used the scepter again to shoot another thunderbolt at Super Dimentio. This time, it punctured the forehead.

"OWWW!" the boss roared. "That can't be feasible!"

"You could say that I have a slight edge in the competition now," he gave a small smirk.

Dimentio was now furious, and probably psychotic at the same time. "Whether or not you intended to make a pun right there, this ends now! You may have found a way to hurt me, but I'll do the same to you tenfold! You're going to be roasted and carved like a holiday turkey before the Oblivion even kills you!"

"I like to see you try."

"Feeling cocky, huh?"

"No. Determined," Luigi spat back with a death stare.

Super Dimentio 2.0 manipulated his magic to crush more Dark Shards into smaller chunks and hurl them at Luigi. He also returned to slamming his fists at him while hovering in midair. The plumber timed his jumps and dodges accordingly to elude them. Keeping the staff in his grip, he countered back with more thunder. Because of his oversized physique, Super Dimentio was too slow to fly away and was easily targetable. Thus, the puppet monster suffered various instances of electrifying pain as they slowly became more intense and depleted his health status rapidly.

Luigi fired more thunder from the weapon. Zapping Super Dimentio's body, he was immobilized for a few seconds. He leaped on top of the enormous fist and whacked the scepter across the face. He jabbed the orb in the eyes to disable them. He later hopped onto the cloaked head and performed another ground pound, except he managed to harm him. Landing back on the ground, Luigi took some time to heal himself with his last Super Mushroom and a Refreshing Herb.

When the puppet moved again, he rotated around to glare at the plumber. "This isn't over yet!"

"It will be in the next few minutes!"

"Oh, ain't that the truth!"

Super Dimentio reached out with his long arm to throw a fist at him. Luigi noticed this and hastened away instantly. He slid against the crystal surface, passing by the other fist that nearly crushed him. In a quick motion, Luigi flashed more of his green thunderbolts from the scepter. Super Dimentio went the extra mile to shoot out several homing missiles from the gigantic mouth. Unfortunately, one of them rammed Luigi in the stomach while another scraped his neck. He skidded back ten feet, barely reaching the edge of the mountain. Thankfully, he didn't fall backward, but he was wheezing from the damage. A black patch appeared between the buttons of his overalls. A couple of scars covered his right cheek and neck.

"Mushrooms aren't going to help you this time!"

"Considering I don't have any left, it all comes down to this. And I'm not going to lose!" Luigi shouted with willpower.

Actively, the green-clothed man didn't waste more time as he sent three streaks of thunder at Super Dimentio. He also released a few bolts to destroy the Dark Shards that flew towards him. Without receiving any hits, Luigi ran forward as Super Dimentio was inert from the shocking sensation of the merged powers between the Chaos Emeralds, the Dark Shards, and his Thunderhand. He whacked across Super Dimentio's face. He stabbed the glass sphere in the eyes. He then followed through with a triple jump to soar above his head and jammed the stick into the hooded scalp.

"GAAAH! I can't be getting weaker at this point! I'm supposed to be powerful! The continuation of the Dark Prognosticus shouldn't be like this!"

 _"Come on! I got to be close!"_

Luigi waited on the mountain with the scepter pointed at Super Dimentio's back. Super Dimentio turned around with an irate expression. Before he could say anything, he received another jolt on the forehead.

"I shouldn't be losing! Especially not to the one who was supposed to drown the whole universe in darkness for all eternity!"

"Well, it turns out that the prophecy is for naught. And even your backup plan to cajole Myster Edge into getting the Chaos Emeralds and creating the Dark Shards has come to a failure, though I must admit you were quite sneaky with it. Edge may have created the Oblivion and brought you back to life for his vengeance. But now that we both know the truth that it was just a scam, I was not going to put up with it. Even for your second attempt to get rid of the worlds, you will not succeed."

"But don't you want him to suffer a slow, cruel death? He has been the one who tortured you since you two met each other."

"He may have done too many bad things to me, and I may hate him for it, but you're the real villain here. And it's time for you to finally have your games to be over!"

"Don't you dare!"

"Say 'Ciao', Dimentio!"

In a last-second effort, Super Dimentio 2.0 extended his knuckles at the green protagonist. Luigi gripped the staff tightly until the Chaos Emeralds radiated with an extreme luminescence. By the time they almost punched him, a huge thunderbolt escaped the scepter and shocked the fists so much that they shot back at Super Dimentio's face. He didn't expect it until it was too late.

"AAAHHH!"

The large puppet flew backward and fell down to the bottom of Star Hill. The monster landed at the base and exploded in a dramatic fashion. Super Dimentio lost all of its body parts except for the colossal head of Myster Edge.

Luigi peered from the summit to see the eyes dazed with the pupils spiraling in circles. The mouth was agape as if he was surprised at something. In this case, it was the utter shock that Dimentio lost once again by a hero of the Light Prognosticus. Luigi scurried down to the remnants of the boss to encounter him up close. Panting heavily with lowered eyebrows and a small victory smile, he felt more accomplished than he did in any of his previous battles.

"Y-You... How did... you defeat me? I... I had at all! After leaving my shadow behind, Edge followed my orders. He stole the Chaos Emeralds. He broke the Dark Moon. He... took my artificial Chaos Heart and resuscitated me! That was all I needed to be back! Urk! And after I brainwashed him, I was about to crush you and... and rule the worlds!"

Luigi washed away his smile as he indignantly spoke to him. "I feel like I should reiterate myself. Your dark prophecy was for nothing. You didn't win the first time, and you sure as hell didn't win the second time. Face it and weep, Dimentio."

"Urgh... This... isn't... over yet... There's still about a few minutes left until everything is wiped out. So even if... I don't survive, I still get to kill each and every innocent being who is living in your wretched worlds..."

Luigi's eyes bulged wide. _"That's right. The Oblivion has to be gone somehow. But, how do I get rid of it?!"_

"Ah ha ha ha ha. I bet you didn't figure that out, now did you, Mr. L? I guess I should depart for my destiny."

"Oh no you don't. Not this time."

"Wait. What are you-"

Luigi charged up Edge's scepter and released one final green thunderbolt at the head of Super Dimentio 2.0. As soon as it made contact, more explosions occurred until the head began to disintegrate. The jester from inside howled in pain.

"NOOOOO! NOT LIKE THIS! I WAS GOING TO-"

"Leave another shadow of yours behind? Yeah, I don't think so. I hope you permanently go away, Dimentio. Whether it's to the depths of the Underwhere or some other rotten place, I hope you experience a living hell for your deceitful nature."

"ARGH! YOU'LL PAY FOR THIS, MR. L!"

"For the last time, _don't_ call me by that stupid nickname. Don't even call me the Green Thunder. My name is _Luigi_."

The head melted into the ground from the blasts. By then, to Luigi's surprise, the Chaos Heart copy and Myster Edge flew out of the head and landed right near his feet. Once Super Dimentio's noggin was completely gone, the world inside the Oblivion trembled violently, more than any other tremor he experienced. Luigi thought for a second as he stared at the rotating heart in front of him.

"Count Blumiere and Lady Timpani got rid of the first Chaos Heart, and that allowed the Void to disappear forever. Maybe if I eradicate this one, the Oblivion in all of the worlds and dimensions will be gone, too!"

He stared down at Edge's scepter. Then, he shifted over to the unconscious Shadow Spirit.

"Edge may have been my adversary since the day he attacked me on my birthday. But, he wasn't at fault when Dimentio tricked him. And he's still Blumiere's brother."

He paused for another few seconds despite the fact that he was wasting precious time.

"Dimentio may be known for his lies and deception. But if what he said about Edge's feelings was true..."

The shaking continued throughout the dark world that the Shards began to crumble on their own. By then, Luigi had made his decision. He dragged Edge's body several feet away from the Chaos Heart. Once they were at a far distance, Luigi activated his final Shriek Shield to cover both himself and Edge. He aligned the scepter right at the gray artifact and charged up the power. When the inside of the glass was completely bright, he was ready at the moment. Luigi shut his eyes and took a deep breath. In the process, a single teardrop ran down his cheek.

 _"If I don't make it out alive, then so be it. But if it means that the Oblivion is gone, everyone is still alive, and Blumiere can reunite with his younger brother at least one more time, then I'll be happy. Just in case though..._

 _"Thank you, Sonic and Tails, for being such great friends and battle partners even though I sent you away..._

 _"Thank you, Professor E. Gadd, for supporting me on this journey while your inventions proved to be effective..._

 _"Thank you, Colombo, for living up to the title of man's best friend and helping me out when I needed you..._

 _"Thank you, Princess Peach, for giving me the confidence to continue throughout this perilous adventure..._

 _"Thank you, Princess Daisy, for loving me for who I am and believing in me when I doubted myself..._

 _"Thank you, everyone else, to all my other friends and even my foes, for listening to me whenever danger struck us at a bad time..._

 _"And thank you, Mario, the one who has been with me forever since we were babies... Thank you for being my loving, older brother and for being one of the many people to make me realize that I can be strong and brave."_

Swallowing in the large lump in his throat, Luigi was prepared.

"THUNDER!"

He fired one last green bolt through the shield, going directly at the Chaos Heart. The result ended with a flash of white light and a thunderous boom.

* * *

 _Location: Boo Woods_

Several of the naked trees toppled onto the grass from the earthquake that struck the Mushroom Kingdom. The people within the vicinity were all stuck in E. Gadd's bunker with the Oblivion causing the worlds to shake. Mario was alone near the front window, gripping the edge of the windowsill as he cringed at the sight of the black hole. It was already 8:59, and nothing had changed. He was already under in the impression that his brother was lost inside the paranormal dimension.

He lowered his head and shuddered. _"Luigi, I'm sorry... You don't deserve this..."_

Suddenly, the earthquake began to subside. Eventually, the shaking had stopped. When Mario opened his eyes, he stared outside at the sky. And to his astonishment, the Oblivion slowly reduced in size.

"What?" he was completely bewildered.

"Mario," a voice called out to him. "The shaking had stopped."

"I know, Sonic."

"What are you staring at?"

He turned to the hedgehog. "See for yourself."

Sonic sauntered up next to the red-clad man and widened his eyes. "No way..."

By then, the Oblivion was just a small hole before it receded entirely. Blue, partly cloudy skies returned with the sun shining down.

"It's gone. It's really gone," murmured Sonic. "That means... Luigi must have done it. He defeated Myster Edge!"

Mario's mind thought otherwise. _"Did he really beat him? And where he is now?"_

Sonic noticed the worried look on his face. "Is something wrong?"

"What if... What if he's gone? If the Oblivion disappeared, wouldn't everything inside be lost forever?"

Sonic soon realized his point. "Oh, shoot. I didn't think of that."

Everyone congregated out to where Mario and Sonic were.

"Guys! We just saw the Oblivion fade away!" Peach told them.

"That means Edge must have been whitewashed!" deduced Tails.

"And we're all still living!" Toad jumped with joy.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo added. Zephyr also made some enthusiastic sounds while clapping his hands.

However, they finally realized how desolate Mario and Sonic appeared.

"What's the matter, young fellers?" asked E. Gadd.

"Luigi... We don't know what happened to him," Mario answered.

"Is he... dead?" Daisy regrettably questioned.

"Like he said, we don't know," Sonic shrugged.

"If he managed to escape the Oblivion, we should initiate a search party," Toadsworth suggested.

"That's a good idea," said Toadette.

"Come on. We better go right now," urged Sonic. Everyone agreed as they all departed the lab. He was the last to leave alongside Mario. "I don't know why, but part of me is saying that he made it out alive."

"If he did, I just hope he's alright," Mario stared down at his feet. Sonic hung an arm over his shoulder as the two left the forest.

* * *

 _Location: Angel Island_

Beforehand, the floating island in Mobius was in peril when it nearly fell from the sky. However, when the Oblivion disappeared from the sky, the shaking stopped, and the isle remained intact despite several fallen trees and some rubble that crumbled off from the Master Emerald's shrine.

"Whoa... What just happened?" Wave wondered.

"The dark hole in the sky is gone," Jet pointed out.

"And the earthquake is gone, too," said Storm.

"I think Luigi did it. He got rid of Myster Edge!" Knuckles smiled before it faded away. "But what about the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Maybe he managed to protect them," guessed Big.

"Or, some aliens might have kidnapped him and taken the Emeralds themselves! It could be another saga of world domination!" Sticks flailed her arms around, eliciting some eye rolls and moans from the others.

"In any case, I think it's safe to say that we don't have to worry about something like this for a while," the echidna presumed.

"That is until Eggman causes more trouble," Jet told him.

"True. But at least we have some breathing room. And thanks for helping me protect the island."

"No problem. But I think it's time we hover on out of here," Wave replied.

"Yeah. Me and Froggy will probably go back to fishing."

"Ribbit!"

"That's fine by me. And I don't know about what you're going to do, Sticks."

"Eh, I think I'll go back to planting my berry orchard."

"Alright. I better check on the others then." Everyone went their separate ways with Knuckles leaving last, soaring towards the city.

* * *

 _Location: Station Square_

"Oh my god! Guys, look! The Oblivion is gone!" Amy shouted with delight.

The animals and the humans all went outside to see the beautiful sun in the skies of Mobius once again. Although part of the city got destroyed again, there wasn't much damage compared to the night Edge's robots attacked the square. Everyone was relieved to see the world back to normal that numerous cheers were heard throughout the streets along with some whistles and applause.

"Yay! We're all safe!" Cream cheered.

"Chao!" Cheese hugged the rabbit.

"That's amazing! Luigi and the others did it!" Silver raised a fist.

Shadow crossed his arms, but he expressed a small smirk. "Hmm... They actually did. I must say, I'm impressed."

"We should check up on everyone else's progress," Vector recommended.

"You're right. As long as the black hole is gone in all of the other places, then we're good," said Espio.

"Let's ask Blaze and Rouge," Charmy told them.

The pink hedgehog contacted the purple cat with her communicator. "Blaze, do you read me?"

"Amy! Yeah, I hear you. I'm with Rouge, Mighty, and Ray."

"And guess what? The black hole in Emerald Hill is gone!" the armadillo told them.

"Really?! That's great!"

"Glad we got to be a part of defending this area. And I'm pretty sure all the other zones are safe, too," Ray implied.

"Anyways, I think Ray and I will be heading out now."

"And we'll probably head back to you guys in Station Square. We should check up on the others in the Mushroom Kingdom," Rouge mentioned.

"Cool! We'll see you guys later!" Amy hung up the call. "Phew. Glad to hear that from them."

"Hey, guys!" everyone heard a scream.

"Who was that?" Vector looked around.

"Up there! It's Knuckles!" Silver pointed at the echidna.

He landed right in front of them. "I see that the Oblivion is gone here, too."

"Yeah. And the same should be for Emerald Hill and the other areas in Mobius," Cream cited.

"Blaze and Rouge should be heading back right now. And then we're going to go back to Mario's world to see how they're doing," Silver explained.

"Sounds good. Hey, out of curiosity, how's Eggman doing?"

After no response from the party, Shadow shrugged his shoulders. "Let's just assume he, Orbot, and Cubot are fine for now."

* * *

 _Location: Chemical Plant Zone_

The dark red sky of clouds emerged after the Oblivion disappeared. Cubot was the first one to notice.

"Boss! That dark hole is gone now!"

"He's right. Chemical Plant is back to normal," Orbot exclaimed.

Eggman gave a low grunt. "Apparently the green guy did have some fight in him," he mumbled to himself.

"Did you say something?"

"Grr, nothing. I didn't say anything."

Eggman searched his pockets to find a small remote. He pushed the button and waited for a few seconds. Soon, his Egg Mobile flew over to his destination.

"At least my Egg Mobile is working properly now. I tried to get this thing to teleport over here, but it was overridden by that arrogant shadow."

"Well, at least we can now go home," Cubot gushed.

"Thank Chaos," Orbot sighed.

Metal Sonic made a noise at the doctor.

"Yes, I'm going to repair you first thing when I get back to my base. Just as long as those robots are inactive," Eggman responded. The four hopped inside the vehicle and made their way home.

* * *

 _Location: Yoshi's Island_

"Yoshi, do you see what I see?" asked Birdo.

The green dinosaur looked outside the temple to see a cloudless sky over the tropical isle. The other Yoshis saw this and jumped in excitement.

"Yippee!"

"Hurray!"

"It's gone!"

"We're all safe!"

Yoshi flutter-jumped as a celebratory move. "Yoshi! Luigi and the others have done it! We should head over to congratulate them!"

"Okay!"

As the two ran off, the Village Leader ambled to the entrance of the temple to bask in the sun's rays. "Ah, that feels wonderful. Well done, heroes."

* * *

 _Location: Kongo Jungle_

"Well, would you look at that?" Cranky adjusted his glasses.

The other Kongs looked outside DK's treehouse to see the view. In front of them was a clear, blue sky with no signs of the Oblivion.

Diddy danced on their feet, clapping their hands above their hands. "Ooh! The jungle is now free of that dark hole!"

Dixie copied his actions. "That's wonderful! Now we don't have to worry about that or those pesky androids!"

Funky Kong went into a break dance, ending with a thumbs-up. "I bet those Mario Bros. and their other friends managed to wallop that beast to save this place!"

"I think so, too," Donkey Kong agreed. "I think this calls for a banana buffet!"

"Oh, I'm down for that!" Diddy yelled.

"Me, too!" Dixie added.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go celebrate!" DK pounded his chest.

* * *

 _Location: Bowser's Castle_

Standing near one of the windows, Bowser Jr. and the seven Koopalings were looking outside the glass pane.

"Whoa... Am I seeing things?" Iggy rubbed his eyes behind his glasses.

"No, I don't think so," thought Ludwig.

"This isn't a joke, is it?" Larry questioned.

"If it was a joke, then someone must have pulled off the biggest prank ever to give us false hope," Roy grunted.

"What are you Koopalings staring at?"

They all turned around to see Kammy and Kamek from behind with the latter asking the question.

"You know that black hole that kept spawning those dirty robots?" Wendy asked the Magikoopas.

"Yes. What about it?" the purple mage raised an eyebrow.

"It's actually gone," Morton answered.

"Gone?" they both repeated.

"Yeah, gone. As in 'poof', no longer there anymore."

"We know what gone means, Lemmy," Kamek rolled his eyes even though no one could tell. "I better report this to Lord Bowser."

Once Kamek left the hallway, Kammy took a look outside as well. "Why, biscuits and gravy! You kids were telling the truth after all."

"We told you," Jr. crossed his arms.

"You didn't say anything," Wendy narrowed his eyes.

"Did too! I was the first one to notice it!"

"No, you didn't. Stop being braggadocious," Ludwig scoffed.

"Brag-a-what now?"

Meanwhile, Kamek entered the throne room to see Bowser standing at the same window from before.

"Your Evilness, I have some news. The black hole in the sky is nowhere in sight."

"I can see that, Kamek," Bowser grumbled.

"I guess that the green plumber and his animal allies were able to reverse the fate of the worlds. And that means you can go back to planning your scheme to kidnap the princess or whatever you desire."

"Yeah, I will. Now leave."

"I'm sorry?"

"Do I have to repeat myself?! Leave my room!" he roared.

"Sorry, Master."

Kamek closed the door as the Koopa King was isolated again.

"I don't know how he did it. But yet again, Green 'Stache has proven me wrong, which I hate. But just you wait. I'll let you and the others slide for a while. But don't be surprised if I come back to wreck the Mushroom Kingdom again." His frown slowly turned into an evil smile. "And maybe next time, I'll pounce on you and Mario for good!"

Some things just never change.

* * *

 _Location: Memory Hill_

The Count and the Lady turned their attention to what was above them. The Oblivion shrunk slowly until there was no remnant of it in the sky.

"Oh, my. Blumiere... The Oblivion..."

"It's gone, my dear. Luigi has done it." Blumiere curved his lips upward. "The worlds are safe again."

"Thank goodness we're still here, together and forever until the day we finally pass."

"And I wouldn't want to spend a day without you."

Timpani grinned happily at his comment before placing her lips on his lover's. After they parted away, their Duplighost assistants ran up the hill.

"Count! Lady! This is absolutely spectacular!" shouted Duplimore.

"Luigi saved us all! The Oblivion is no more, and it won't eat up the worlds!" Duplicit babbled.

"Yes. It's a relief that he's done it." Timpani then frowned. "But, what became of him? Is he back home safely?"

"I don't know," Blumiere responded.

"By the way," Duplimore interrupted, "we're all sorry about... you-know-who."

The Count shook his head and raised a hand. "It's fine. It was for the best to keep these dimensions safe and sound. Even if he died, as long as Luigi delivered my message, then I'll be okay." He cleared his throat and adjusted the front of his cape. "Maybe I can find out what has happened to him. I never used this ability before, not even during my evil days. But, I'll give it a shot."

Blumiere pointed his scepter in front of the four of them as a virtual cloud materialized. Then, it showed an image of Luigi's current location. Shockingly, they found Luigi at the top of Star Hill. He was lying on his torso with his arms and legs spread out. But what caught their attention was the object in Luigi's right hand.

It was Edge's staff with the seven Chaos Emeralds.

Not only that, but just a few feet away from him, there was another figure on the ground.

"It's... my brother..." Blumiere gasped.

"Are they... breathing?" Duplicit pondered.

"I don't know," Timpani responded.

"What do we do?" queried Duplimore.

"We're going to transport to Star Hill. We should bring him back to his home, find Mario and his friends, and get him some medical help. Even if it means we have to show our faces in public, we can't just leave him there to potentially die if no one else is going to discover him."

"Then let's get going," the Lady grabbed his shoulder.

"And we shall," Blumiere waved his wand to teleport them to the magical mountain.

* * *

 _Location: Toad Town_

It's been about thirty minutes after the Oblivion faded away in every location. While the Toads were cleaning up the mess made in the town, Wario and Waluigi attempted to sneak out so they wouldn't be forced to help. That is until the same Blue Toad from earlier asked them to lend some hands. Right now, they were cleaning up broken glass from the castle windows.

"This sucks. Why do we have to clean up something that we didn't do?" Waluigi complained.

"I know, right? All these mushroom heads do is linger around and scream in terror whenever something bad happens to the kingdom or Peach," Wario muttered.

After sweeping up and discarding the sharp glass, they threw their dustpans and brooms carelessly.

"Alright, we're done with that. Now let's leave already."

"Hold on, guys!" the Blue Toad yelled from the top of the stairs. "Can you guys also sweep up the glass for the other buildings, too? Thanks!"

"Oh, come on!" they groaned. Wario and Waluigi picked up their tools and headed outside. Just then, they saw several people running near the front of the castle.

"Wario! Waluigi!" Peach called to them. "You guys alright?"

"Yeah, we're good," Wario replied.

Everyone else stopped in front of them. Then, Daisy snickered. "So, did you guys get hired as cleaning maids?"

"We've been forced into labor to help these Toads clean," Waluigi grunted.

"You guys have done enough. Thank you, though," Peach let them off the hook.

"So, what are you guys doing here?"

"We need to find Luigi. Have you seen him?" Mario sounded slightly desperate, but he was downright worried.

"No, we haven't seen him at all," Wario responded.

"Oh, Mamma Mia... Where could he be?"

Later, the trapdoor of the Mushroom Warp Pipe opened as all of Sonic's friends popped out.

"Hey! The scary black hole is gone here, too!" Cream smiled.

"Sonic! You're back!" Amy ran up to him with yet another everlasting hug.

"A-AMY! PLEASE! LET GO OF ME!"

"Tails! You and the others alright?" Knuckles gave him a fist bump.

"We are," he returned the gesture. "But there's just one problem."

"What's that?" Blaze asked.

"Luigi's not here," said Daisy.

Everyone blinked for a second. "Wait a minute. What did you say?" Silver asked, wondering if he heard the Sarasaland princess correctly.

"He's not here!" Toad and Toadette shouted.

"What do you mean?" Shadow cocked an eyebrow.

"Luigi was trapped in the Oblivion to find Myster Edge after he sent Mario, Sonic, Colombo, and me back to E. Gadd's lab."

"Hold on. So, Luigi faced Myster Edge by himself?" Espio realized.

"Uh-huh," Sonic nodded. "It happened after we rescued and beat Mario."

"You beat Mario? Why?" Blaze was confused.

"Yeah. I thought you were on the same team," Rouge added.

"Well, back at the Treacherous Mansion when he separated the brothers, Edge made the real Tough Possessor take control of Mario after roboticizing him," Tails clarified.

"You're kidding!" Amy was shocked as well as everyone else who wasn't aware of this.

"They're telling the truth," Mario shook his head. "They told me all about it."

"And you're saying that he had no way out of there even though the black hole disappeared?" questioned Wario.

"That's right," said Sonic.

"Oh, boy. That wasn't what I expected to hear," Vector shivered.

"I don't think any of us expected that," corrected Knuckles.

"And you don't know where he is, assuming he did get out of there?" Waluigi asked.

"That's exactly correct!" E. Gadd bit his lip. Colombo and Zephyr both looked uncomfortable.

"I can't believe this," Charmy breathed.

"Hey, everybody!" The entire party looked over to see Yoshi and Birdo. "Glad to see everyone's here."

They then realized their distressed faces. "What happened?" Birdo tilted her head.

"It's a very long story," Toadsworth put a hand on his cheek.

"Well, long story short, we're under the impression that Luigi faced Myster Edge himself, but he was also trapped in the Oblivion and couldn't get out," Sonic was straightforward.

"He..." Yoshi took some time to register all that. "But didn't you guys go with him?"

"We did. Then he sent us back here to face Edge alone," Tails responded.

"Well, where is he?"

"We don't know!" everyone yelled.

While the party was in a fuss, Colombo felt a presence from far away. He walked away over to the pathway that led up to Star Hill. Seconds later, he saw the sight in front of him, causing him to yip.

"Arf! Arf!"

All of the characters stopped talking as Mario walked over to the Polterpup.

"Colombo? What are you barking at-" the plumber paused. It was at that time when he recognized what Colombo noticed. Coming towards them was a familiar face. With a top hat and a magical scepter in one hand, he was with a woman and two Duplighosts. Not only that, but there were two more individuals.

In the hands of Duplimore and Duplicit was the green plumber. In between Blumiere and Timpani was the Shadow Spirit. Every single person was either shocked, confused, or both.

"Luigi!" Mario ran up to him.

"Careful now. He's knocked out, and he's got more injuries," Duplimore warned.

"But we did feel a pulse. He made it out alive," Duplicit reassured.

Mario exhaled through his nose in relief. But when he turned to the Count and the Lady, he was astonished. "Tippi? Bleck?" They nodded their heads at him. Mario realized he went by their secondary names. "Timpani. Blumiere. What are you doing here?"

"We can explain later, Mario. But it's great to see you again after so long," Timpani greeted.

"Same here." The man then realized the person they were holding. His face scrunched in ire. "What the hell? Why is he here?"

"Like Timpani said, we'll tell you what happened. And maybe Luigi will too once he's awake. I feel as if something occurred in the Oblivion and that there's something we don't know."

"But right now, he needs immediate medical assistance," Timpani cried.

"Same with my brother."

"Your brother?" Mario repeated.

The Count cringed. "This will be a bit complicated to explain. But since you don't know about it, I'll tell you soon enough."

Mario turned his attention back to his younger brother who was held by the Duplighosts. He thanked them and decided to carry him over to the Toadley Clinic. Daisy rushed over to help him, and they made their way to the hospital with everyone else following them.

As for the storytelling aspect of what occurred earlier, it was going to be a _long_ day for the heroes.

 ** _END OF CHAPTER_**

* * *

 _Okay. Technically, this isn't the actual conclusion to the story. But what's safe to say is that Luigi reigned over Super Dimentio 2.0 and vanquished the conniving jester for good. Not only that, he has saved all of the worlds from this. However, although Luigi may have survived the cataclysm with his enemy, both remain unconscious after the events. And I will say this, there will be at least one more death involved by the time this story is completed. Who will perish? Who will survive? What will happen next time?_

 _Thank you everybody for reading Ch. 58 of this adventure. One more upload will complete this journey before I leave it as it is. Please review down below, give this a favorite if you've enjoyed it up to this point, follow the story for the final update, and tell me if I need to fix any errors I might have made. Until we meet again, I'll see you guys for the epilogue of Hidden Bravery! This is TGN, signing off._

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _Two small movie references right there, specifically from Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs and Ice Age._

 ** _(2):_** _I hope this explanation gives you the idea of how Luigi was able to weaken Super Dimentio's power, similar to how the Pure Hearts got rid of the Chaos Heart's invincibility in Super Paper Mario._


	60. Epilogue: From Coward to Hero

_A/N: We are finally here: the epilogue to this sixty-chapter adventure. We will see how fate takes place over the course of this section. Unlike past chapters, the Post-Chapter Notes will follow immediately after the end. Then, I'll put up the last Author's Note as I have some personal thanks to a few people who have reviewed/supported this story from day one to the time this gets uploaded._

 _Let's not waste any more time, shall we? Welcome to the epilogue of Hidden Bravery! Hope you all enjoy this one!_

* * *

 _Disclaimer: The story was developed by me, and I take credit for the plot and my original characters. The Mario and Sonic franchises, characters, and other content are respectively owned by Nintendo and Sega._

* * *

 **Epilogue:** From Coward to Hero

 _Location: Toadley Clinic_

A light shined down on the individual's left eye. The eyelid was held down by a finger. His blue pupil twitched for a second before it finally moved.

"What's this now? Why, I say he's finally awake," said the doctor.

"Really?" Daisy asked with newfound hope.

The human opened his other eye, blinking repeatedly. Dr. Toadley carefully released his left eyelid to give him some space. Eventually, he opened both of his eyes and took in his surroundings. Finding himself inside the same hospital room he was in before, Dr. Toadley was to his left, the princesses were on the couch, Colombo sat in between them, Sonic and Tails took the wooden chairs, and Mario stood to his right.

"Luigi? Can you hear me?" Toadley questioned.

"Oh... Where am I?"

"You're in the hospital, Luigi," Mario answered.

Luigi slowly sat up and looked over at his brother. "M-Mario... Y-You're alive..."

"I am. Listen, Luigi, I know everything."

"Everything? About what?"

"Blumiere and Timpani explained what happened to me and what you, Sonic, Tails, and Colombo had to do in the Oblivion."

"Blumiere and Timpani? But how?"

"They said that they warped here to the Mushroom Kingdom," explained Tails.

"Then they found you at the top of Star Hill and brought you here," Peach clarified.

"But the good thing is that you're back, and the Oblivion is gone," said Sonic.

"Arf!" Colombo barked.

Luigi looked down at his lap. "M-Mario, I... I'm sorry."

"What for?" he was confused.

"I had to hurt you when you got possessed. I was forced to physically fight against my own brother."

Mario shook his head. "You shouldn't be apologizing. You did what was right, and that's saving me and all the worlds. I'm thankful for you, bro. We all are."

Luigi blushed at his comment. "Hey, where are the others?"

"Where are your other friends?" Dr. Toadley slightly copied his question. "They're all in the waiting room. Meanwhile, the evil spirit is behind that curtain, laying on the other bed. He's got two guests looking over him."

"I almost forgot... Myster Edge..." Luigi perceived some silhouettes from behind. He saw three figures, one lying down and two standing up. He recognized the Lady, the Count, and the Shadow Spirit.

"Normally, this would be too many people here to visit some patients. Why is this the case? Everyone was worried for you, especially all of these people," Toadley acknowledged. "And then you have the older sibling of another victim, despite the fact that victim is also your enemy."

"By the way, did you decide to save Edge?" Sonic wondered.

"I... I did," Luigi answered truthfully.

Unexpectedly, the curtain that divided the room was pulled away to reveal the Count, staring at Luigi. His face was neutral but peaking with curiosity.

"What happened?" he simply asked.

"I..." Luigi hesitated. He then realized that he and Edge were the only ones who knew what occurred in the dark dimension. But since the latter was still knocked out, he thought he should discuss the situation. "It's a long story, but I remember everything."

"Go ahead, Luigi," urged Timpani.

"I'll leave the room to give you folks some privacy," Dr. Toadley walked away and shut the door.

Luigi took a deep breath. "So, this happened after I fought Mario and sent him, Colombo, Tails, and Sonic back to E. Gadd's lab. The Oblivion was basically a copy of the Mushroom Kingdom, and I went to Star Hill to find Edge. We had our battle, going back and forth with our attacks. Edge later had the advantage and kept using the powers from his scepter...

"Just when he thought I was going to give up, I started to think of positive things for a change. I thought back to what you guys said to me. You had confidence in me when I didn't feel the same. But because of those feelings, I had the motivation to retaliate. So I used my Thunderhand to shoot the scepter like Blumiere told me to."

"Did the strategy work?"

"It did. But then, I told Edge about you and your feelings for him."

"How'd he take it?"

Luigi frowned. "He said he didn't care about you. He didn't think of you as his brother."

Blumiere's expression didn't falter. "So I figured." Timpani walked over to rub his shoulder.

"I'm sorry, Count."

"It's fine, Luigi. At least you fulfilled my request. That is all I asked for. I just didn't ask for you to bring him back though."

"Why is he unconscious in the first place?" Tails thought.

"That actually brings up what happened after our brawl. Edge trapped me in a prison of Dark Shards so I couldn't escape or interfere with him. He finally used the Chaos Heart duplicate to revive Dimentio."

"What happened next?" Mario pressed forward.

"To my surprise, and to Edge's as well, Dimentio betrayed him."

"He did what?" Peach furrowed her eyebrows.

"Dimentio fooled Edge. He made him spend years to collect the Chaos Emeralds and create the Dark Shards so he could power up the copy that was in my heart. And once he returned, Dimentio instantly stabbed Edge in the back. He made Edge turn into Mr. E under the influence of the Floro Sprout. Then, he took his body and combined it with the Chaos Heart and himself to form Super Dimentio 2.0, just like the first one when he used the original Chaos Heart and myself."

The others either went wide-eyed, gasped, or both. Mario felt a shiver down his spine, and Blumiere lowered his gaze to the ground.

"I knew I was forced to fight him. But my Thunderhand wasn't adequate to inflict damage on him. Then, I did something crazy."

"What'd you do, Luigi?" Daisy leaned forward on the cushion.

"Edge dropped his scepter when he got brainwashed. And since it was on the ground, I grabbed it and shot a bolt of thunder from it."

Sonic shook his head rapidly, processing what Luigi just explained. "Wait, what? You used Edge's staff and actually controlled it?"

"I was just as surprised as you are right now, Sonic. But it's true."

"How is that plausible?" the fox conjectured.

"Since Edge's staff, plus the powers of the Chaos Emeralds and the Dark Shards, were linked to me, I guessed I was able to influence it to hurt Dimentio."

"And it worked?" Timpani tilted her head.

"Yes, it did. Rather than using my Thunderhand alone, I think I charged up my powers with the scepter to shoot thunderbolts from the glass orb with the Emeralds inside. And as I got used to it, I was able to take him down."

"And, is Dimentio gone forever?" Mario wanted confirmation.

"He almost got away with it, if I didn't do anything about that. I made sure I destroyed the entire figure of Super Dimentio. I presume he's officially gone for good."

"Well, that's a relief," Peach sighed. "Is there anything else to know?"

Luigi nodded. "Afterward, Edge and the Chaos Heart copy appeared after Super Dimentio was completely thwarted. Then I chose to keep Edge safe and protect him in my final Shriek Shield. I shot a thunderbolt at the Chaos Heart copy, and it exploded. I was out unconscious after that, but I presumed it caused the Oblivion to disappear everywhere. As for us, we probably got spit out of the black hole and returned to Star Hill. I don't know what happened to his scepter, and I'm not sure if the Emeralds survived the blast."

"I have the scepter with me," Blumiere revealed it from the inside of his cape. "And the Chaos Emeralds are still inside."

"I would expect them to scatter after they were used up," Tails believed.

"At least they're recovered and out of his hands," Sonic looked on the bright side. "We just have to figure out what to do with them later."

"But why did you spare his life, especially after what he had done to you?" Mario didn't understand.

Luigi had the reason for it, but he was having trouble to say it out loud. "Um..."

"Luigi?"

"B-Because he was Blumiere's brother, I wanted to give the Count one last chance to see him before the possibility of him dying."

"You did that for me?" Blumiere blinked.

"I... I did. And not only that, before Dimentio brainwashed Edge, he implicitly stated that he had feelings for you after you went your separate ways."

The Count turned around to see Edge once more. His mind was roaming with mixed feelings.

"Was that the wrong thing to do?"

Blumiere shifted back at the green plumber. "I honestly don't know how to respond to that."

"Neither do I," Mario agreed.

"Or all of us," Peach added.

"Arf! Grr!" Colombo growled at the Shadow Spirit. And that's because he saw him moving.

"Is he awake?" assumed Daisy.

"Ugh..." Myster Edge grunted. He looked to his left and did a double take. There he stood, in his top hat and cape. The Shadow Spirit narrowed his eyes. "What the hell are you doing here?! Where am I?!" He proceeded to cough violently.

"You're in the hospital," Luigi told him from the other side.

"You..." he peered to his left. "Why am I here? Why is _he_ here?"

Luigi took the time to describe the same story about what happened to him in the Oblivion, how he defeated Super Dimentio, and why he saved him from dying in the dark dimension.

Edge stared at the plumber with confusion rather than shock. "I don't understand why you did that."

"I wanted you to be with your brother at least one more time, hoping you would reconcile. I told you about what Blumiere said to me prior to our fight. And Dimentio inferred the idea that you actually missed him."

The purple shadow glanced at his older brother, who gave him a sympathetic frown. "What? Are you going to belittle me like I did to you in the past? You gonna gloat that you were a better villain than me? Go on, say it. Tell me what's on your mind."

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, that's right. You- Huh? What did you say?"

"I'm pretty sure Luigi told you first. But I need to say it directly from my own mouth to you. Before all this chaos started, back before I turned into Count Bleck, I was angry at you because your thoughts on me being with Timpani were apathetic. I sought revenge after she was taken from me, although I prevented you from being wiped out with the rest of the tribe. Still, we were distant, and I didn't think of you as part of my family. I eventually regretted my actions when the heroes defeated me and I reunited with Timpani. As time went on, I think back at those moments when I shunned you from my life. I didn't think I was going to miss you. But I did."

"You... missed me?"

The Count lowered the brim of his hat to shield his face. "There's no point to hide it. After years of separation, our reunion was long overdue. I wanted to confess that I wasn't a good brother to you. The last thing I wanted was for us to die, thinking that we hate each other. But you are my little sibling, and I'm sorry."

"Blumiere..." Edge acknowledged him by his name for the first time. "I never thought you would say that to me. Not in a million years."

"It's the one thing I needed to get off my chest. And now, I can say that I hope you accept my message and apology, even if you don't reciprocate the same feeling."

The shadow coughed. "Well, I can't believe _I'm_ about to say this. But, I'm sorry as well. For two reasons. Number one, I'm sorry for my selfishness. I only followed under the influence of power, which is why I teamed up with Dimentio. However, I should've known better not to trust a word out of his damn mouth. The traitor almost got away with it."

"At least we both think of him that way."

"Yeah. But as for number two, I also treated you poorly as my brother. You may have fallen for someone who's completely different from us, but she is what makes you happy. I never realized how miserable you felt after Father banished her. It made you feel alone, kind of like myself when I wanted to bring back that jester. I should've accepted your relationship, even if it's not the norm."

Edge paused as he coughed again. He laid his head back on the headrest with a face that looked sick.

"Are you alright, Edge?" Blumiere was concerned.

He shook his head. "No. I got brainwashed as his servant. And in the process, I lost so much energy. I felt weak. And that's only the second time it happened."

"When did it happen the first time?" queried Timpani.

"Initially, I felt weak and outmatched... when _he_ fought me," he weakly pointed at the green man.

"Me?"

"Yes, you. I underestimated your strength. I always kept putting you down, whether it's calling you weak or torturing you with my lightning powers. But during our battle at Star Hill in the Oblivion, you managed to outwit me. I was furious then. But looking back, I commend you for your perseverance."

Luigi blinked in surprise. Never had he ever been complimented by his enemy before. "Thanks, I guess."

"Another thing I have to be grateful for is that you chose to save me when I could've died back there. If you didn't spare my life, I would've never seen Blumiere again."

The Count kneeled down to grab his hand, clenching it tightly. "And now you're here."

"Yeah, I am. But not for long."

Blumiere frowned. "What do you mean?"

Another cough escaped Edge's lips. "I'm drained. I don't feel great. And... I accept my fate."

"Your fate?"

"I'm going to expire."

"Edge? Are you-"

"Blumiere, listen," Edge rasped. "Despite our conflicts, you'll always be my big brother. I'm actually glad I got the chance to talk to you once more. Take care of the woman you love. You did say she completed your world. And now, you can move on with her in your life."

"Edge..."

"And you, Luigi," Edge turned to him, "you have proven me wrong. You may have shown cowardice on the outside. But somewhere inside, you have displayed bravery and power. You bested me, and you became a hero for not just your world, but the whole universe."

Luigi was unable to find the words to respond.

"Even though you saved me, I guess I was meant to die. Besides, no one can be immortal. Not Dimentio, and not even me. And my time is about to come."

"Edge. I'll always love you," the Count whispered.

"And I feel the same way, now that I exposed my true thoughts. For once, I'm glad I lost. Good job, Luigi. And goodbye, Blumiere."

The shadow closed his eyes as he let out his last breath. His heart stopped beating, and he didn't move. Blumiere, coming to terms, lowered his head. After taking some to cope, he stood up straight with a neutral face. But deep inside, he was a little heartbroken.

"I'll go get the doctor," Timpani offered.

"Thank you, dear."

The white-haired lady solemnly walked out of the room, leaving just the Count, Luigi, and his friends who were in awe of the conversations and events that transpired.

"Count?" Luigi got his attention. "Are you okay?"

Blumiere shifted to him. He presented a weak smile. "Yes. I'm fine. I'll need some more time to take this in. But, you did me more than just a favor. You gave me a chance to talk to him again. Thank you, Luigi." **_(1)_**

"You're welcome, Blumiere."

The Count kindly decided to give him some time with his friends. He pulled the curtain over to hide Edge's body and ambled out the door.

"How are you feeling, Luigi?" Mario asked.

"Fine, but a bit conflicted. I can't believe he actually said that to me."

"Neither did I. But you must have changed his views after Dimentio betrayed him. He was actually proud of your efforts, as am I. Luigi, you are a hero."

His cheeks blushed in red as he gave a shy smile. "Thanks, Mario."

Daisy stood up and walked to the other side of the bed. "It's great to have you back home," she kissed him.

His blush remained on his face. "Thank you, Daisy."

"Ruff! Ruff!" Colombo hopped onto the bed and panted happily at his owner. Luigi followed with a chuckle, petting him on the head.

"Hey, Sonic."

"Yeah, Tails?"

"What should we do with the Chaos Emeralds?"

"Well first, we need to get them out of the scepter. We can split them up with our friends, just in case Eggman tries to take them all from us."

"What about the Dark Moon?" mentioned Peach.

"Oh, I almost forgot about that," Luigi realized. "I gave Sonic the final fragment. Where is it?"

"I gave it to E. Gadd," the Blue Blur replied. "But he didn't clean it off yet because we were healing Mario at the time."

"I'm pretty sure we can go to his lab though. That way, the Dark Moon can be restored once again. But first, can you walk, Luigi?"

"I think so, Mario." The plumber removed the blanket and carefully slid off the edge. Still in his plumber's attire, he felt fine. "This time, I didn't need the Chaos Emeralds or the Dark Moon pieces to heal me. I just needed rest."

"Here's the Poltergust, Luigi," Tails handed him the vacuum. "I assume the Tough Possessor is still inside."

"Thanks, Tails. I'll get this to E. Gadd as soon as possible."

As the group walked out, Luigi was the last to leave. He stopped at the door to look behind. Although he couldn't see, he took a moment to think of the one who antagonized him nearly two weeks ago.

 _"Edge... We had several bad moments between us, and I wasn't happy with what you did. But, thank you for your last words to me. And, I'm glad you got to speak with Blumiere before you went away."_

Once Luigi left the room, he was met with another surprise. All of his other friends were waiting in the hallway, excited to see him awake and well. Yoshi, Amy, Blaze, Rouge, the Chaotix, and everyone else who ventured with him applauded his appearance. Even though Shadow, Wario, and Waluigi stood there doing nothing, they were internally glad to see him.

"Yoshi! Great to see you again, buddy!" Yoshi hopped.

"We're so happy you're here, Mr. Luigi!" said Cream.

"Chao Chao!" Cheese added.

"Thanks, guys. Golly, I'm glad to see you all as well."

"We wouldn't be here if it wasn't for you!" Amy smiled.

"That's because you defeated Myster Edge!" Charmy spread his arms out.

"And the Oblivion is nowhere to be found," Espio smirked.

"Which means you saved all the worlds! The Mushroom Kingdom, Mobius, and just about every other place!" Vector roared.

"I got to say, you were the one who stepped up big," Shadow gave a slight nod.

"Thanks, everybody."

"By the way, what happened to that shadow guy?" Rouge asked.

Luigi slouched his shoulders. "He had an opportunity to resolve his issues with Blumiere, and he took advantage of it. And surprisingly, he admitted that I was tough enough to beat him."

"And you sure were!" Sonic winked.

"Now, he's gone."

"Wait. Do you mean..."

Luigi nodded at Wario. "Yes. That's right." He didn't need to be straightforward to let everyone know.

"I mean, at least that means he won't cause trouble," Waluigi thought.

"Is the Count okay with it?" Toad questioned.

"He's okay. He just needed time to handle the situation."

"Well, sonny, I'm proud of you," E. Gadd praised. "Everyone is, too. But we do have some unfinished business to take care of."

"I know what you mean. We better go back to Evershade."

"Zephyr and Colombo will tag along with us so they can regroup with the ghosts once they're back to normal."

"Are you going with us, Mario?"

"Actually, I realized I have a last-second errand to do. But I'll see you first thing when you return. Just meet me at the castle."

Luigi wasn't sure where he was going, but he reluctantly agreed. "Okay, I'll see you soon, bro."

Before they left, E. Gadd was stopped by Mario. "Keep him busy for as long as possible."

"You got it, Mario," he murmured back.

When the four strolled away to find Dr. Toadley, Mario gathered everyone in for a group huddle. "Okay, here's the plan..."

* * *

 _Location: Evershade Valley_

Pixelating to the bunker, they returned to E. Gadd's main hub in Evershade. The professor was carrying the canister from his basement and transferred the group of hostile ghosts into the Ghost Container in his underground Vault. Afterward, he returned to the main floor. Luigi placed the Poltergust's hose into the tunnel to send the Tough Possessor down to the others. Once that was done, Gadd brought out his original Energy Suppressor. After the machine cleaned the final Dark Moon fragment, the party walked outside into the cool air.

"Ready, Luigi?"

"Yeah, I am."

Luigi and E. Gadd dug into their pockets to pull out the remaining Dark Moon pieces. They both gave Zephyr one so that the three would have two fragments, holding one in each of their hands. With Colombo watching, they spread their arms in the center of the circle they formed. By then, the pieces glimmered with a positive glow. They floated in midair, aligning in a crescent shape. Soon, they combined to restore the Dark Moon to its former state.

Luigi was in amazement like the first time he repaired the celestial body. Colombo wagged his tail, Zephyr smiled with his mouth open, and E. Gadd chuckled to himself.

The purple crescent soared to the black sky of stars and shined brighter than before. A flash of light appeared before it spread throughout the valley. The ghosts that were trapped in the container, along with those roaming in Evershade was struck by the Dark Moon's aura, turning the ghosts friendly once again. E. Gadd grabbed a remote with two buttons, revealing a Boo icon on the top and a Greenie on the bottom. (And heaven only knows why the hell E. Gadd has a button that releases those troublesome spirits.)

Mindfully pressing the button with the Greenie on it, the Ghost Container opened to allow the ghosts to be freed. All the Greenies, Slammers, Hiders, Sneakers, and Possessors happily flied to the skies of Evershade. They floated down to greet and thank Luigi for saving them.

"Wonderful! The Dark Moon is restored, and the ghosts are no longer unfriendly! Excellent work, Luigi!"

He sighed in relief. "Thanks, Professor. I'm glad we could save them."

A duo of Greenies joined Zephyr to carry Luigi and throw him in the air in celebration. All the ghosts played around with E. Gadd and Colombo joining the fun. It lasted for a long while, which made it better for Mario and company as they were busy with their own business.

* * *

 _Location: Toad Town_

Luigi, Colombo, and E. Gadd said goodbye to Zephyr and the Evershade ghosts before they returned to Boo Woods. The professor stalled Luigi by cleaning up the lab together and putting the Poltergust 6000 away. When they were done, the three made their way towards Peach's Castle with the sun setting along the horizon.

"Thanks for giving me the equipment to complete this quest, Professor."

"You're welcome, Luigi. Glad I could assist you once again with your ghost-catching skills."

"Bark! Bark!"

Once they made it to the bridge, Luigi opened the front entrance. Then, he was utterly shocked.

"Surprise!" all of Luigi's friends shouted. The castle was redecorated, only this occasion was for Luigi's heroics. Everyone was there, including Mario, Sonic, the rest of the gang, and even Blumiere, Timpani, Duplimore, and Duplicit.

"What is this?" Luigi still had his mouth agape.

"Welcome back, little bro!" Mario greeted him, patting him on the back. "This is a party for you!"

"For me?" he blinked twice.

"Of course! This kind of makes up for your birthday party that got ruined by Bowser and Edge, but this party is specifically for you saving the worlds!"

"Really?"

"Sure is!"

"Wow... I'm speechless."

"Come on! What are we standing around here for? Let's party!" Sonic shouted with a raised fist.

* * *

Everyone spent the night having fun at the party, eating food, dancing to music, and chatting with friends. Some of the people took the time to talk with Luigi, who discussed his fight against Super Dimentio to those who didn't know.

"Really? You fought Dimentio like that?" Toadette was amazed.

"I can't believe it!" Blaze gasped.

"That's amazing!" Knuckles grinned.

"Master Luigi, I was kind of scared that you weren't going to come back," said Toadsworth.

"So was I, Toadsworth. But thankfully, I survived from the Oblivion."

"You must have kicked butt back then!" Donkey Kong, who arrived later at the party with Diddy Kong, gave a thumbs-up to the green plumber.

"That's great to hear that you beat that shadow guy!" Diddy cheered.

"Luigi," Timpani called from behind. "We just want to thank you again for what you have done. You were really brave out there."

"You're welcome, Timpani," he bowed in front of the Lady and the Count. "I appreciate the compliment."

"We all know you have some fight in you. All you had to do was stay calm and focused," said Duplimore.

"By doing so, you had confidence to overcome all the odds," Duplicit told him.

"How are you faring, Count?"

"Much better than I was before. While your friends have set up this party for you, we buried Edge's body at the Mushroom Cemetery, with permission from the princess. I want to thank you once again for allowing us to see each other."

"It was my pleasure, Count, especially after Dimentio showed his true colors."

"Well, I suppose we shall get going. I'll be spending the rest of my life with Timpani, starting anew after all this."

"As for us, we no longer need to assist them. But if you ever need some spies, give us a call," Duplimore offered.

"We'll see about that. Thanks though."

"Take care, Luigi. And that goes for your friends, too," Timpani waved goodbye.

"Goodbye," he returned the gesture.

Blumiere waved his scepter to shine a light over the four of them. By then, they were gone from the castle. Everyone dispersed to go back to having fun at the party. Meanwhile, Luigi took a seat at an empty table, wanting to get some rest. Colombo walked over and let out a small whine.

"Hey, Colombo. Come on up, boy," he patted his lap.

The Polterpup eagerly hopped up to Luigi and licked his face. Laughing, Luigi laid back to relax. It didn't last long when he heard Tails.

"Luigi!"

"Hi, Tails. What's up?"

"There's something outside for you! Come on!"

"What is it?"

"You'll see!"

Luigi and Colombo exited the castle to follow the kitsune. There, he saw Mario, Sonic, Peach, and Daisy on the castle bridge. There was also something covered with a tarp.

"What's going on?"

"It's another surprise for you, Luigi!" Daisy beamed.

"Oh, guys. You don't have to. The party is fine enough."

"Just wait, Luigi," Sonic laughed. "Maybe this will change your mind."

"Ready, everyone?" Peach was prepared as the others grabbed a part of the sheet. "1... 2... 3!"

They yanked off the cover and revealed what was hiding underneath. It was a brand-new vehicle, built with a backseat platform in the style of a two-person kart. **_(2)_**

"Mamma Mia..." Luigi's mouth nearly hit the ground.

"Happy belated birthday, Luigi," Mario congratulated.

"Mario... But why?"

"Remember on the day of your birthday, when I left you before Sonic and Tails joined your walk to see Professor E. Gadd?"

"Yeah?"

"To be honest, I forgot to get you a present. I searched around Toad Town to think of some ideas. And then I thought, since you've gotten better at Mario Kart, why not give you a new vehicle for racing? I asked a team of Toad mechanics to build this for you, and I thought it turned out to be great! I just hope you like it."

Luigi looked like he was about to cry, but with joyful tears. "Whoa. This is... incredible. But I don't like it. I _love_ it. Thank you, Mario."

The red plumber went over to hug his little bro. The others grinned at their embrace.

"You did well, fratello," Mario whispered in Luigi's ear. "You're always brave to me."

" _Grazie_ , bro." They eventually let each other go.

"Uh, I don't want to be the guy to ruin this moment," Sonic interrupted, "but let's see you drive this baby around!"

"Yeah! Try it out, Luigi!" Tails shouted.

"Arf!"

"Yeah, go on, Luigi! I'll hop right behind you!"

"Okey-dokey!"

The brothers jumped in with Luigi in the driver's seat and Mario taking the back.

"You ready, bro?"

"I'm ready!" Luigi turned on the ignition. The kart sped off a high speed that he was having trouble steering. "Um, Mario, I think we're going too fast!"

"Uh oh! Watch out!" They drifted sharply to avoid a building.

"What kind of engine did those Toads install into the kart?" Daisy wondered.

"It's anything bigger than 200cc, than that seems to be the answer," Peach replied.

"By my estimations, it seems like it's a 300cc engine!" exclaimed Tails.

"Guys! Look out!" Sonic yelled.

"AAAHHH!" the brothers screamed. Luigi lost control of the wheel and crashed into a short wall. The two went flying out of the vehicle. Peach and Daisy had their hands covering their mouths in fear. Luigi face planted into the grass, and Mario landed safely... on top of his brother. For the umpteenth time. Everyone ran over to them.

"Oh my goodness! Are you two okay?" Peach was worried.

Mario exhaled heavily, catching his breath. "Ooh, I think so, Peach. Where's Luigi?"

"Uh, Mario?" Sonic pointed down.

"Oh! Sorry, bro!" Mario jumped off of him. Luigi's head and eyeballs were spinning, dazed out from the crash.

"Luigi, are you alright?" Daisy held his shoulders.

Shaking his head, he exhaled. "Yeah, I'm good. But I'm so clumsy that I got to get better at driving at 200cc."

"Actually, I think you were going at 300cc," corrected Tails.

"Well in that case, I guess I need practice, huh?" Everyone laughed at his joke.

"Come on, Luigi. Let's go take this to the Toads so they can repair the kart and change the engine. And don't worry, bro. You're still fine for the way you are. But it's an added bonus to prove that you can be a hero."

"He's right, Luigi," Sonic smirked. "You definitely proved everyone that you're strong and reliable to help others! Who cares if you screw up? Everybody isn't perfect after all!"

"Yeah! We all make mistakes sometimes. But at the right moment, we can always work together as partners," said Tails.

"We'll be there for each other as friends, too!" beamed Peach.

"No matter what, we always think of you as a hero, Luigi," Daisy complimented.

"And for me, you will always be my brother until the end," Mario wrapped his arm around Luigi's shoulders.

"Bark! Bark!" Colombo jumped up and licked Luigi's face.

"Man, I'm so lucky to be around people like you. And because of your support, I feel more confident and braver than I was before."

The heroes walked into the heart of Toad Town as the sun began to disappear in the Mushroom Kingdom. Indeed, from what the green plumber said, he felt grateful to have such amazing friends who both support and accept him for who he is. Despite his flaws, there were reasons to admire about the younger Mario brother. And his most recent adventure was a prime example.

Luigi had hope for the future that he will remain strong for any kind of danger that hinders his path. But even if he expresses fear, uncertainty, or any other negative emotions, all he had to do was believe in himself. And that's what he planned to do. Because he'll always have a hint of _hidden bravery_ in his heart.

 ** _END OF STORY_**

* * *

 ** _Post-Chapter Notes:_**

 ** _(1):_** _I wasn't going to be too cruel, so I wanted a moment where Blumiere and Edge reunite to talk once more before the latter died._ _And yes, it is confirmed that he was the one who passes away._

 ** _(2):_** _The two-person go-kart is reminiscent of the game Mario Kart: Double Dash! I hope it'll return for a new Mario Kart game for Switch, hopefully calling it 'Mario Kart: Switch Up', or something along the lines of that where you get to swap the characters' roles between driving and dealing items._

 _And as for the final scene, I wanted to write a little humor to end on a good note, even if Luigi got caught up in the middle of bad luck again. (Sorry, Luigi!)_

* * *

 _I can't believe it. My first story, Hidden Bravery, is officially completed on FanFiction. Over nineteen months ago, I was beginning something new on this website because I wanted to try it out. And even though my first several chapters were underwhelming, I wanted to pick up the pace and make the plot more action-packed to set up what I brainstormed in the prologue. Fifty-eight chapters and an epilogue later, here I am with the final A/N of this journey. Would I consider this story perfect? Honestly, no, because this story probably could've been done without the Sonic characters, but I did it anyway. There were also some flaws here and there, but I'm too lazy to go through them all. Regardless, let me take this moment to personally thank some people out there since I rarely did it throughout the story._

 ** _Steel Fairy-_** _You were the first person to read and review every chapter I posted, and I mean EVERY single chapter. Your initial feedback was the reason why I continued to write this fanfic, back in the days when I originally put this in the Mario & Sonic crossover section. If it wasn't for you, I don't even think I would update this story regularly or at all. I truly appreciate your reviews since day one! Thank you very much!_

 ** _Tiger of Darkness-_** _The second reader to review every chapter, I also liked your feedback and reviews as well! You were another reason why I continued to write HB every now and then until the moment I completed this story. And I appreciate you for that!_

 ** _FairyTalePrincess16-_** _I wanted to say that you were one of the few authors that gave me the inspiration to write my own fanfiction, most notably from your Galaxy Heroes saga. I'm a big fan of Mario, and I like Sonic (when the games aren't terrible), and having both of these franchise icons together is just a cool collaboration in general, which is why I chose to implement the characters from both series in this story. You motivated me, and I thank you for that!_

 ** _Pikminfan-_** _You were the first person to leave a review for HB, and I appreciate that along with your other reviews! Thank you!_

 ** _Infinite's Ruby, SpiderDom321-_** _To two of my best friends I most recently met on FFN, I also thank you for your support late in the story. What really mattered was to hear how much you enjoyed Hidden Bravery. As for the latter, I'm happy to give you inspiration to write a Mario story of your own. But for both of you, I have enjoyed your Sonic Forces rewrites to this point, and I'll read them until they're completed, just like what you've done for me. Thank you, too!_

 ** _Tsukimine12, GirlOnDarkerSide, NormanWhitesmith, MalevolentDarkness16, CyanGaveUp42 (formerly TemUltimate), Guest, Q-_** _Whether you have reviewed once, a few times, or every chapter, I'm glad to hear that you all enjoyed the story. Thanks for your support!_

 _And to everyone else who has either left a positive review or constructive criticism, added a favorite or follow on this story prior to the epilogue, or just read the story, you have my utmost thanks for making this story bigger than I ever imagined. With over **300 reviews** , **22,000+ hits** , and just under **50 favorites** and **40 followers** , I am happy with those numbers for a regular Mario story featuring the Sonic characters._

 _If you want to check out more of my stories, I have two at the moment. One is titled New Brotherhood which is an actual Mario & Sonic crossover that takes place after two horrendous tragedies. From there, the red and blue heroes eventually meet up to learn about themselves and form a special bond. The other is named Revengeful Resistance, a rewrite of Sonic Forces with some twists that are different than what was shown in the game. If you want to check those out, feel free to do so. I appreciate you for reading any of those as well._

 _Anyways, I really hope you all enjoyed the true finale. For the last time, I will be closing out of this story. Feel free to review your thoughts on the final chapter, point out anything I might have missed in the plot or errors to fix, and leave a favorite if you enjoyed the story! To everyone out there, thank you for reading Hidden Bravery! This is TheGameNguyener, signing off!_


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